Currents
by xx.smileeeee
Summary: "I missed you." He whispered breathlessly in her ear. And she knew, no matter how strong she tried to be, the currents would always pull her back to him. T&G.
1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**Hey, guys. This idea's been on my mind for a while now, and I guess I've finally decided to get up and do something about it-meaning actually write it. I'm working on the next few chapters, and here's the prologue to 'Currents'!

**Disclaimer: **I obviously do not own anything – except for the plot and a few OCs.

* * *

'_Fate is kind_

_She brings to those to love_

_The sweet fulfillment of_

_Their secret longing.'_

**Prologue**

"_So…You're really leaving, then?" His voice was quiet, hurt and worried. The question was mumbled, and yet she understood it clearly. He wouldn't look at her-instead his eyes were fixed on some blade of grass at his feet._

"_You know I don't want to." Her voice was breathless. She shifted slightly, placing the black tote at her feet before raising a hand to wipe a stray tear trailing down her cheek._

_He remained silent, his shaggy, sandy hair blowing slightly in the breeze._

"_I don't want to." She repeated, bringing her arms around her chest as if to hug herself-she was shivering regardless of the fact that it was 80 degrees outside. "Please, look at me."_

"_Stop lying." This time his words sounded forced, and she could sense some sort of hidden anger in them._

"_I'm not." Her reply came almost immediately as she tucked a strand of straightened, dark brown hair behind her ear._

"_Yes, you are!" His bright blue eyes flashed as he looked up at her, causing her to jump slightly in fear. "Don't fucking lie to me, Gabriella."_

_It was her turn to duck her head to look at the ground, now. No, it wasn't the fact that he had sworn. They were fifteen, and she had heard him swear many times before. It was the fact that that word, that anger…was all directed towards her. _

"_It's nothing to be ashamed about."_

_He stepped forward now, wrapping his strong arms around her in a tight hug. She barely found enough rooms to pull her arms out and wrap them around his waist, breathing in his comforting scent._

_They stayed like that for a long time. Neither one moving, neither one daring to speak. Him with his face buried in her hair. Her with her tears soaking his shirt. It was only when a car honked for her did they finally let each other go._

"_I am," He began, holding his hand on her cheek. "So proud of you. You wanted to be an actress, and now here you go, moving off to California."_

"_Troy-" She tried, but he smiled, placing a finger over her lips to silence her._

"_Maybe you'll even become a singer someday." His tone was light and sounded joking, regardless of the fact that she actually did want to become a singer. They both smiled warmly at the thought. "You've always been by best friend, Gabriella Montez. I know that you can do anything you put your mind to. Go out there and get Albuquerque on the map in the famous world. Take everything you've been through with you. Don't forget anything; your past experiences make you stronger. Be a star, Gabriella, and don't forget to remember me."_

_Tears were in her eyes as he finished talking, and she sealed the silently made deal with a sweet kiss, hugging him tightly one last time. Here she was, fifteen years old, newly discovered actress, on her way to Hollywood. For good._

"_I could never forget you, Troy."_

* * *

"Gabriella? Gabriella?" She was gently shaken awake, a soothing male's voice whispering in her ear. The tan-skinned, dark-haired girl quickly uncurled herself from the movie theatre seat she was in, hiding a yawn behind a delicate hand. Blinking sleepily, she turned to the figure beside her, recognizing him as the lights in the theatre turned back on.

"Jordan?"

"Hey, sleepyhead." He grinned, with his slight British accent, placing a gentle kiss on her forehead. He shook his head, his messy brown hair falling into his eyes.

Gabriella lifted a hand slowly and brushed the hair out of his eyes, laughing. "Well, hello there, Superstar." Her warm, chocolate gaze locked with his green one, and they both smiled.

She leaned her head against his shoulder briefly as the rest of the movie theatre patrons exited, no one seeming to recognize the two celebrities in the top row. Gabriella finally stood up, grabbing onto Jordan's hand and lacing their fingers together, attempting to pull him up. He didn't budge, however, and she let out a sigh, looking down at him only to find that his gaze was still on the screen.

"What exactly are you doing, Mr. Brady?" She chuckled, seating herself on his lap and wrapping her arms around his side, her hands drawing invisible patterns on his toned stomach.

"Gabriella," He groaned, and playfully attempted to pull her hand away. "Now you've gone and got me all bothered."

"_Bothered_, are we?" The brunette asked, releasing her arms from around him. "Well, you're certainly starting to use all the British expressions on me. And I thought you only lived there until you were five." When he didn't respond, she continued. "And why exactly are we still here? It's only the credits playing, and the theatre's emptied out. It's not like the paparazzi can _still_ be hanging around."

"I want to see who the stunt double was for the lead-" Jordan began, but quickly broke off as a name passed across the screen. "Ah, there we are. Troy Bolton. He was pretty good. Might have to hire him for our upcoming movie. What do you say, Ella?" He turned to his girlfriend, only to have her frozen in shock, her mouth slightly agape.

"Troy Bolton?" Gabriella questioned, the name sounding familiar on her lips. She repeated it a few more times, before a sudden memory came to her. A handsome, young, blue-eyed boy, and a few words. _'Be a star, Gabriella. And don't forget to remember me.'_

"Jordan?" She tried weakly, voice no more than a whisper.

He turned to her immediately, concern filling his gentle gaze. "What's the matter, Ella?"

"Um…How would you feel about meeting my parents?"

He chuckled, placing a hand around her waist as they began to exit the theatre. "I've already met your parents, remember?"

She stopped him where they were, double checking to make sure that absolutely no one was in the theatre before placing a hand gently on his chest as she leaned up to whisper in his ear. It was now or never. She was twenty-two and hadn't repeated the name 'Troy Bolton' in five years; she had wiped her memory clean of his name. Well, she had tried to. And yet, something about him was drawing her back to her hometown-their hometown. Leave her Hollywood life for a few weeks and go visit. Was it all worth it?

A delicate smile spread across Gabriella's face as she spoke into Jordan's ear. "No, I mean _really_ meeting them. Want to take a trip to Albuquerque with me?"

'_Like a bolt out of the blue_

_Fate steps in and sees you through.'_

* * *

**Author's Note:** Well, there's the prologue. Oh, and the song is 'When You Wish Upon a Star' – the one from Pinocchio. In all the stories I seem to read(or most of them), it's always Troy being the famous one and somehow finding normal Gabriella. So here's famous Gabriella. I've already got a whole plot for this story and the first few chapters already written. So remember- the more reviews, the more chapters, and the faster they get put up!

-- Jennie.


	2. Surprise?

**Author's Note: **Aaaaand, here's chapter one! It's not too long, guys, but it's a start. If no one can really imagine Jordan…Well, I'm trying to find a play-by for him. Obviously, it's not working out so well. But thanks for the reviews!

I'm not too fond of this chapter, but here goes. Oh, and heads up, there's one strong swear word at the end of the chapter. But that's why it's rated 'T'.

**Disclaimer:** Obviously I hardly own anything. Beside Jordan and the plot, of course.

* * *

'_So you buried all your lover's clothes  
and burned the letters lover wrote,  
but it doesn't make it any better.  
Does it make it any better?'_

**Chapter One – Surprise? **

She was relieved, to say the least.

Within two days, Jordan(after finally convincing Gabriella that it wasn't too show-offy) had hired a private jet, the two had packed, made a few phone calls to publicists and such(to tell them a quick lie about heading over to Europe), and had spoken to Gabriella's parents. Luckily, no one had seemed to recognize the Hollywood couple at the LAX Airport, and now the two were just landing in Albuquerque.

Gabriella sighed as she made her way out of the plane, tucking a strand of wavy hair behind her ear. She shrugged off the thin leather jacket, revealing herself in a comfortable white baby doll top.

"Well, someone looks hot." Jordan whispered teasingly in her ear as he helped her out of the plane.

The brunette rolled her eyes at him, but couldn't suppress a small smile. "I'm in skinny jeans and flats, Jordan. Nothing you haven't seen me in before."

"Ah, but that's just it." He winked at her.

"You make no sense." Gabriella laughed.

They put on their sunglasses and hats respectively before entering the actual airport – it offered a small disguise. It seemed to be enough, however, since they made their way through the airport towards the exit without any disturbances.

Gabriella's phone vibrated in her pocket and she pulled it out, quickly answering it and grinning. Jordan watched her as they stopped walking; only hearing her side of the conversation.

"Hi Mom!" Gabriella laughed. (She had lost her proper knowledge of Spanish some time ago, and didn't even use the most basic words anymore.)

"Yeah, we're in the airport." _Pause._ "No, we have our glasses and hats on." _Pause._ "Why would anyone recognize us?" _Pause._ "I actually have a whole **fan club **here?" _Pause._ "Yes, he's fine." _Pause._ "But he fell asleep in the plane." _Pause._ "Hey, look, can we talk about this later? Where are you?" _Pause._ "What? But I thought you said-"_Pause._ "Ugh. Fine. Bye."

She pressed 'end' on the phone, turning to the smirking Jordan. "I take it something didn't go as planned?"

"No." She pouted, dragging her bag over to a mini airport restaurant and seating herself in one of the chairs. "It seems that my _dear_ mother can't pick us up, because we're having guests for dinner tonight and she needs to finish making it. I mean, _honestly_. It's still only 1 o'clock. She has plenty of time to make dinner. But she said someone's coming to pick us up, but they're running fifteen minutes late. And apparently they'll be holding a sign with 'Gabriella M.' on it." She huffed out.

Jordan couldn't help laughing, pressing a kiss to her cheek lightly. "Come on, let's just eat first while we wait, okay?"

Gabriella nodded, sighing heavily.

* * *

"So, what do you think she's gonna be like?"

"Meaning, _what_, exactly, Chad?" Troy Bolton lifted an eyebrow as he quickly shot a look at his best friend, before returning his eyes to the traffic light that had just changed from red to green.

"Exactly what I said." Chad grinned from where he sat in the passenger's seat of the car. "I bet you she's even hotter in person. And if you've been reading all the magazines lately, she's still with her boyfriend. But I still can't believe she's coming here out of all places. She hasn't been here since-"

"Chad, I don't even know the girl. All I'm doing is a favour for Mrs. Montez by picking up her cousin from the airport. And besides…Ms. Montez and her cousin have to be around the same age. Which means you just called a forty-three year old hot." Troy laughed, continuing towards the airport.

The man beside him shrunk lower in his seat, mentally beating himself up. Of course-Troy didn't know who he was actually going to pick up. Chad had the sign, and Chad knew about the 'surprise' that was awaiting him in just a moment-the same one that he had spent a few days working on with Troy's family. "Oh, sorry about that. I thought we were still talking about that babe from the movie we saw last night."

Troy rolled his eyes and laughed as Chad heaved a silent sigh of relief. "Of course you were, man. I should have known that you're still just one big walking hormone. Haven't changed a bit since high school."

The rest of the car ride passed in a comfortable silence-with the exception of the radio blaring the latest 'Top 20 Countdown'. As they pulled into the airport parking lot, Chad looked at the time on the car's clock and cursed.

"Shit, man! We were supposed to be here fifteen minutes ago! Why'd it take you so long in the shower?!"

Troy sighed impatiently as he quickly paid for half an hour of parking time and the two made their way inside the airport towards the 'pick up zone'. Chad pulled a sign out and held it up, turning it away from Troy's gaze when he tried to see it. All of the sudden, screaming was heard and both Troy and Chad turned shifted their attention towards the source of the sound.

* * *

"IT'S GABRIELLA MONTEZ!"

The sudden scream made the actress jump, and Jordan laughed and quickly caught her as she stumbled slightly, before they both turned towards the sound.

It turned out to be a little girl – she looked no more than eight or nine years old. She ran towards them, followed by what seemed to be her older brother at the age of around nineteen or twenty. Immediately she latched herself onto the brunette actress' leg, and she seemed to be crying.

"Oh my gosh, you're _actually_ Gabriella Montez." She cried, before turning to Jordan. "And _you_ must be Jordan Brady – the other half of America's sweethearts. Is it true you guys are _actually_ engaged?"

As the little girl spoke, both of the couples' eyes widened, and Gabriella made herself busy by signing the piece of paper that the girl thrust at her. Jordan, on the other hand, was left to answer the engagement question.

"Er-Ah-Uh…" He began nervously – looking around for anything that could possibly help him to answer the question. "We-We're not really _engaged_, honey." He finished at last, causing the little girl to look at him in disbelief while she thrust the paper at him to sign.

"But why _aren't_ you?" She asked, and Gabriella couldn't help but chuckle at her innocence and at Jordan's flustered expression.

"Here, can you do us a favour please, sweetie?" Gabriella asked and at once the girl nodded vigorously. "Well, our visit here is a bit of a surprise. See, we'd really appreciate it if no one knew we were here. Could you keep this to yourself-just for a few weeks?"

The little girl nodded again and continued crying until the man that seemed to be her older brother came over and picked her up, flashing Gabriella an apologetic smile (obviously not realizing who she was behind her glasses) and carrying his protesting sister away from the couple.

After a moment, Gabriella noticed that people were staring at them and whispering. Feeling a sense of panic overwhelm her, she quickly turned to Jordan and spoke loudly.

"Well, look at that, _Thomas._" She said, still feeling all eyes on her. Jordan himself raised an eyebrow at her questioningly, but she continued on without hesitation. "Isn't it funny that that little girl thought I was Gabriella Montez?"

Immediately catching on, her boyfriend replied smoothly. "Of course, Amanda. Come on now; let's go back to our house. I don't doubt that my sister will be okay getting through security. All the way back to Chicago she goes!"

After the crowd turned their attention elsewhere, Gabriella giggled and punched Jordan lightly on the arm. "Way to not sound suspicious with that last sentence!"

He held his hand up in defense, laughing. "Hey, it worked didn't it?"

Gabriella shrugged and reached into her purse, looking for her cell phone, but stopped as soon as she felt the rough paper against her fingertips. Pulling out the slightly ripped envelope and glancing at Jordan to make sure he wasn't looking at her, she opened the envelope after her eyes passed over her name quickly scribbled onto it. She pulled out the hand-written letter, glancing at the top, right-hand corner of the page to see it was dated about seven years ago.

'_Gabriella,_

_I know that when you read this you're probably going to make a mental note to come and kill me for sending this so late. But hey, you've got to give me props for sending a letter rather than an e-mail. The latter would have been so much easier, but I vaguely recall you once saying that you thought letters were a classier way of communication. So here I am being classy. Shocker, yes. But one as fine as myself is always classy when it comes to the ladies, you know. -_

Gabriella smiled fondly at this last sentence. Although Troy had always been the cocky one, he knew how to make her laugh through and through. She could count on him for that.

_- Anyways, I just pretty much wanted to check up on you and see how you're doing. I saw a few paparazzi pictures of you the other day. So just a heads up to let you know that you have a few stalkers already. _

_Oh, and before I forget, I got a job. Yes, that's right, Troy Bolton is officially employed. Mind you, it's only a janitor at some kids' karate school, but it pays pretty good._

_I really miss you Gabs, and I'm sorry this is so short, but that's all I can really say at the moment. Damn, everyone misses you. Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE (including Chad) was crying after you left_

_But keep in mind that I still missed you the most. _

_So write back SOON!_

_From,_

_ Troy Bolton_

_P.S. Hope you like your present! I actually bought it with my own money, instead of stealing from my dad this time. Just joking. But I really did get it for you myself._

Gabriella shut her eyes tightly and reached into her pocket, pulling out the little golden ring that Troy had left in the letter years ago. She pressed her lips briefly to the object, before placing it, and the letter, back into the envelope and into her purse once more.

She didn't need this. She didn't need Troy Bolton, and she wasn't going to think about him – regardless of the fact that she was in both of their hometown. He had hurt her, and she didn't want to relive any of those emotions she had felt when she last talked to him some five and a half years ago.

At the same time, a slight feeling of unease combined with nausea filled her as she glanced around her, suddenly self-conscious.

Jordan's eyes were turned towards a man with a large afro, holding up a sign. Gabriella squinted slightly, and only then did she recognize her name in bold, black letters.

Excitement coursed through her veins as she looked over the man holding up the sign. Without even a second thought she dropped her bags, sprinting towards him and jumping into his arms, her own arms around his neck.

"CHAD!"

She laughed as she clung onto him, him hugging her back. Neither of them spoke, simply savoring the moment. They hadn't seen each other for nearly four years now, and she had missed having him to talk to, as he had with her.

The two only broke apart when they heard Jordan cough politely behind them. As they separated themselves from each other, Gabriella's eyes were starting to well up with happiness. Quite a few people were glancing at them now, but they didn't seem to notice.

"I missed you a hell of a lot, Gabriella." Chad said quietly, with a smile on his face.

"I missed you too Chad!" She beamed, glancing briefly at the person beside him, who seemed to be texting someone on his cell phone. "I didn't know you were coming to pick me up. Much less bring a friend with you!"

"The thing about that is, Gab-" He tried.

"Whatever, it's no big deal." She interrupted him, missing the pained expression that flashed across his features. "Anyways, this is Jordan. He's my…boyfriend." Gabriella said the word slightly hesitantly, but was relieved when the two shook hands calmly.

"Great to meet you, man."

"Likewise, Chad. Although I can't say that I've heard anything about you."

Gabriella blushed at Jordan's comment, feeling slightly guilty, but chose to distract herself by turning to Chad's 'friend', tapping him on the shoulder. "Might as well introduce myself to your friend, then. Hi there, I'm-"

She froze, mouth hanging slightly open as her chocolate gaze met the piercing blue. His jaw was strong, and he had had a dazzling half-smile on his face before he seemed to recognize who she was. His sandy hair fell slightly in his eyes, and she could see that he had just recently shaved, regardless of the slight stubble.

Well, someone had certainly grown up.

And all at once she felt something drive through her gut, and it took all the strength she had not to double over in both pain, and shock. A hole had just entered her that she had not felt in years. She tried to speak, but all that came out of her mouth was something that sounded more like a strangled sob.

What was **he** doing here? Suddenly she didn't know what to do, didn't know what to say. Anger, sadness, hope, frustration, curiousity, longing. She was caught in a whirlwind of emotions, stuck in a storm that she had never wanted to re-enter. All of the sudden those walls that she had spent years building up around her came crashing down at her feet. Well, _his_ feet.

"Gabriella." He was the first one to speak, his voice sounding hoarse. And yet she couldn't help noticing that it was deeper then when they had last talked, not to mention that it held some sort of hidden emotion that she couldn't quite place her finger on.

"Troy?" Gabriella choked out. He gave her that weak, crooked smile(it seemed more like a childish attempt to make everything better between them), and it reminded her of the ways he had caught so much attention from the girls back in high school.

She felt herself starting to sway under his careful inspection, feeling his ocean-blue eyes pass right through her, reading her every emotion. Her head started spinning and she waved out an arm to grab onto the closest thing to her - which happened to be Jordan's shoulder. Only one last thing ran through her mind as she met those startling blue eyes once more before she passed out.

Fuck.

It was definitely him.

'_Well you'd like to think that you were invincible.  
Yeah, well weren't we all once before we felt loss for the first time?  
Well this is the last time.'_

* * *

**Author's Note: **Okay, so the song there is 'The Brilliant Dance' by Dashboard Confessional. I like the lyrics in that song…So….Yeah. But they DO tie into the story-don't worry. You'll see that soon enough, if you haven't already. Oh, and guess what? There's this guy in my school (one of my friends, even though he's like…three or four years older than me) and he's going to be in High School Musical 3! We don't exactly know what part he is yet (he's supposed to keep it confidential) but it was really exciting to figure that out. On top of that, he was/is also in 'Camp Rock', which just makes the whole thing even cooler. I'll keep giving you guys updates! Remember to review!

--Jennie.


	3. I'd Do Anything

**Author's Note:** Hey, I just wanted to apologize to all of you for not posting in…Well, a really long time. This won't happen again, I promise. It's just that we had exams and summatives and I really needed to study for those. As it turns out, I aced my science exam and pretty much bombed my math exam, but I'm not so sure about the rest of them. Thank you all for sticking with me, though, and I promise that this story will have more frequent updates from now on. At least once a week, if not more. Thanks, guys, and here's chapter two!

**Disclaimer: **Okay, this is going to be my last disclaimer for the rest of the story. I don't own anything, except for Jordan, Sonya and a couple of OCs. And the plot, of course.

* * *

'_I'd do anything_

_Just to hold you in my arms_

_To try to make you laugh_

'_Cause somehow I can't put you in the past'_

**Chapter Two – I'd Do Anything**

_She pushed her way through the throng of people in the airport, tugging the black suitcase behind her. She tripped suddenly, crashing into an older couple who looked like they were with their grandchildren. The man shot her a glare and opened his mouth to say something, but his wife quickly silenced him with a look._

"_Oh, I'm sorry. Really sorry, I didn't mean to do that at all." Gabriella stuttered, picking up the little girl's pink carry-on bag and handing it back to her._

"_It's no problem, dear." The old woman laughed, smiling warmly at Gabriella. She squinted slightly, as though inspecting Gabriella, before she laughed again. "Oh, my. Are you Gabriella Montez?"_

"_Er…Yeah." The brunette's face flushed scarlet and she turned her head to the side. "I'm actually just back here for a quick visit, before I head back over to L.A."_

"_That's wonderful, dear." The woman nodded. "My family absolutely __**adored**__ your movie, and-"_

_But Gabriella was no longer looking at her. Her eyes at met the shy gaze of a certain sandy-haired, blue-eyed boy. He was holding a bouquet of roses, and gave her a hesitant wink, hand automatically going to scratch the back of his neck nervously._

"_Thanks," Gabriella said quickly, shifting her gaze back to the couple and their grandchildren for a moment. "Really, thanks for all the support. But I actually have to be going now, so-" She glanced towards the boy again, and the lady followed her gaze._

"_Secret boyfriend?" She chuckled as Gabriella gave her a small, half-smile._

"_Just a really good friend." _

"_Well, don't let us hold you back, dear. I hope your visit is lots of fun, and good luck on your future career."_

_As soon as the woman had stopped speaking, Gabriella had turned around and ran to the young man, throwing her arms around his neck as he laughed, holding her, pressing a tender kiss to her cheek and spinning her around. _

_When he set her down at last, his right hand rose to touch her cheek, as his fingertips began trailing across certain features of her face. They first passed gently over her nose, lightly across her closed eyes, down her jaw line, and finally came to rest on her slightly parted lips. He brought his thumb to trace the curve of her top lip, causing her to smile. At last he leaned down and captured her lips in a swift kiss, and Gabriella lifted her arms and wound them around his neck, her fingers playing with the short hairs there._

_She pulled away from him and rested her head in the crook of his neck, grinning as he buried his face in her hair. They stayed there momentarily, simply enjoying being back together again._

"_Troy?" Gabriella murmured at last._

"_Hmm?" Came his reply, pulling away from her to press his lips briefly to her forehead once more._

"_I wish that every homecoming is like this." She grinned. "If we're sixteen and this is how we react whenever we see each other, I can't help but wonder what it'll be like next time I come home."_

"_I'm always going to be here when you come back." He murmured into her ear. "I'll be the first person to see you. The first person to touch you. And the first and only person to kiss you."_

_Gabriella giggled. "Promise?"_

_Troy leaned down to press his lips to hers once more, immediately feeling her respond. "Promise." He mumbled into the kiss._

* * *

Gabriella's eyes shot open as she sat up suddenly, panting and clutching her chest. Her eyes darted around the room, anxiously looking for any form of proof that she was in the airport like she had been only moments ago. She lifted a manicured hand to pass over her lips, realizing that the feeling of Troy's mouth on hers was still fresh.

Quickly, she pulled herself off of the bed, glancing around her old room to see that nothing had really changed. Her chocolate gaze passed over the deep red walls(the cream accent wall being behind her bed), small desk, wooden dresser, a set of doors that led to her closet, and the door that led to her bathroom.

Gabriella hurriedly made her way over to the bathroom, noticing that all her stuff was already unpacked. She stuck her head back into her room for a moment, realizing that her suitcases were half-opened and empty, and the door to her closet was ajar.

She frowned slightly as she wondered who had bothered to unload all her things and stepped back into the bathroom, checking her reflection. Her hair, which before had been straightened and fell lightly down her back, was now slightly curled at the ends, and she had a pillow mark on her left cheek. She held back a yawn, making her way out of the bathroom and into her closet, grabbing an old, white East High hoodie and pulling it on.

Slowly, she made her way down the stairs, freezing when she heard voices coming from the kitchen.

"I can't believe it! Troy didn't tell me anything. It's great to meet you, dear." Gabriella recognized that as her mother's voice, and her words sparked a slight interest when she mentioned Troy's name.

"Well, he's certainly talked about your cooking a lot." The laugh was quiet; innocent. Gabriella didn't recognize the voice, and stepped down the last few stairs, pausing at the bottom. "It's great to finally meet you as well, Mrs. Montez."

"Oh, please. Call me Maria. I'm just going to go and see if Gabriella's ready yet, okay? You guys just stay here. I'll be back quickly…" Her voice trailed off and Gabriella realized only a moment too late that she was approaching the stairs, and fast.

"Gabriella!" Maria Montez looked shock at her daughter's appearance, and quickly scolded her. Her voice, however, had lowered quite a bit, probably given the fact that she didn't want whoever was in the other room to hear her. "You haven't even _changed_ yet?"

When her daughter didn't respond, but shrugged and looked at her with a confused expression, Maria sighed wearily. "Of course, of course. You must have just gotten up. When Troy brought you home you were passed out, honey. Um…I unloaded your luggage for you, so go pick out something that you would wear for a dinner party. The Bolton's and a guest are here. I'm sure you'll be really pleased to meet her."

"Is Jordan-" Gabriella began as she headed up the stairs.

"Oh, I sent him downstairs to get some wine, Gabriella. Hurry up, now."

Groaning at her 'luck', the brunette quickly ran up the stairs and back into her bedroom. Gabriella entered the bathroom and hurriedly fixed her hair, brushing it and letting it cascade down her back in small waves. She applied a lightly layer of blush, black eyeliner, mascara, and a layer of nude lip gloss.

"And what to wear, what to wear." Gabriella mumbled, stepping into her closet and, after looking for a good ten minutes, finally decided on a sleeveless red cocktail dress with a 'V' shaped neckline. It was slightly tighter just under the bust, but it flowed out from there and stopped just above her knee. She deemed it appropriate after seeing what her mother was wearing.

She pulled off her top and jeans, leaving her in just her bra and underwear, and held the dress up in front of the mirror.

"Brie, I was hoping that maybe we could t- shit!"

Of course. Troy Bolton. Again. And this day just had to keep getting better and better, didn't it?

"Troy!" Gabriella gasped, lifting up the dress once more to cover herself up. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Sorry, sorry!" He said quickly, covering his eyes and turning around so that she could put the dress on. Hastily, he adjusted the black button-up dress shirt, sticking his hands nervously into the pockets of his dark wash jeans.

"I'm fully clothed now." She spat coldly.

Troy turned around, following her into the bathroom as she brushed through her hair once more. "Listen, Brie, I was hoping that maybe we could-"

"Don't call me that." Her voice was hard, and yet icily calm.

The blue-eyed man sighed, running a hand through his sandy hair. This wasn't going the way he planned. "Gabriella. Please. The last time we talked, we weren't exactly on the best of terms and-"

"We _weren't exactly on the best of terms?_ You think, Troy? Why the hell are you here, anyways?"

"Well, your mom invited my family over to surprise you – well, actually, both of us - and although I had no idea about it I was hoping that-"

"I mean what the hell are you doing in my room? Especially while I'm changing."

"You left your door open." He pointed out fairly.

"That's because I didn't expect any bastards to walk through it."

Gabriella lifted her head slowly, and for the second time in years, ocean blue met chocolate brown. "Troy, please just leave." Her voice trembled, and she tore her gaze away from his.

"Gabriella, I made a mistake."

"So now you realize it."

"I made a mistake, Gabriella. I made a mistake and I don't think I ever realized how much I needed you in my life until the day you walked out of it. I tried to get over it, to get over you. And I truly thought I had until I saw you in the airport this morning. I'm not saying that I want you to jump into my arms. I just want us to at least be friends."

"Troy, stop. I don't want to hear some pathetic sob story right now. Especially from you."

"Just listen to me. I was never ready to lose you. And now that you're finally back again, I'm willing to put everything behind us and just start over. All I need is for you to try."

"Don't you dare. Don't you _dare_ and try and put this on me." Gabriella spun around and advanced on him, eyes blazing. "Don't come waltzing into my house, my _room_ and expect me to tell you that I'm sorry. For some strange reason that no one seems to know, you have it in your head that I'm to blame for whatever the hell happened between us. You didn't get it five years ago and you don't get it now, Troy. I can't believe that I ever loved you."

"Well I can. Believe it, Gabriella, because it sure as hell happened. It was real. And if you would stop being a stuck up bitch for two seconds, you would be able to see that."

Gabriella took a step back at his comment, shocked into a moment of silence. His eyes had darkened as he spoke, and all she could see in them at the moment was fury. And that scared her. If there was one thing she wasn't expecting, it was for Troy to have a sudden mood swing like he just did. Almost immediately as she had processed the thought through her brain, Troy shook his head and his eyes were back to the calming ocean blue.

"I-" He began, but was quickly cut off as Gabriella advanced towards him once more.

"Listen to me, Troy Bolton, and listen good. I don't know what the hell just happened, or what you're playing at. But I do know that we are not friends. But because, and this is the _only_ reason, neither of our families knows that we had a fight and believes that them throwing this surprise reunion for us was a brilliant idea, I'll go down there and pretend that I'm really happy to see you. I'll hug you, I'll talk to you, and I'll laugh with you. But when we're alone, don't expect me to keep that act up. This is just so they can be happy. My parents, your parents, and the stupid guest you brought along-"

"Her name's Sonya." Troy mumbled.

"W-What?"

"Sonya. The guest? Her name's Sonya."

"Oh, so what? Is she your girlfriend or something?"

"Er…" Troy looked at the ground, suddenly very interested in the tile floor beneath their feet.

"Oh." The room was silent for a moment. It was a cold, awkward silence, and yet both Gabriella and Troy could feel something drop inside of them. After a few minutes, a laugh from downstairs brought the two out of their dream-like state.

"Gabriella, can we please just talk about this before you do anything drastic?"

"We've talked, Troy. You've had your chance to explain five years ago. I gave you everything I had. You meant the world to me, and you knew it. And all of the sudden, my world collapsed right before my eyes the moment you started that argument. I loved you Troy, but that's in the past. And yes, I'm sorry. But I'm not sorry for whatever happened, Troy. I'm sorry because you never had the courage to try and fix us. And after a while, I just gave up on you, because I knew that you not even attempting to get in touch with me had meant that you gave up on me."

He lifted a warm hand to her cheek and she closed her eyes momentarily, simply remembering everything about him. After no more than fifteen seconds, however, her small hands closed over his larger one, pulling it away from her face before she rushed past him to head downstairs.

"Gabriella." He called out, his voice sounding partially hoarse. She stopped just as she was about to exit her room, but didn't turn around. "Please. I'll do anything to fix this. I-I never meant to hurt you."

She shook her head sadly, turning it to meet his sorrowful gaze. "It's a bit too late now, Troy. Because in the end, it all hurts just the same."

Gabriella turned around once more and made her way down the stairs, leaving Troy to stare at where she had been only moments before. And in those two minutes, the sandy-haired, blue-eyed boy with the crooked smile made a promise to himself. He wouldn't let her go again.

'_This could be the one last chance to make you understand_

_And I just can't let you leave me once again_

_I'd do anything"_

* * *

**Author's Note:** Ick. Sorry if that didn't really live up to your expectations. But the song used there is 'I'd Do Anything' by Simple Plan. Oh, and the last part at the end was a quote from 'One Tree Hill' Season One. It's not the complete quote, but it's the main bit of it. Erm…My uncle FINALLY got engaged so we're going to his engagement party thing this weekend, but I'll try and post a chapter as soon as we get back. Oh, and I know that this is going WAY far back, but did any of you watch the MTV Movie Awards? I don't know if you noticed this, but the moment when they announced that Zac won the award for _Breakthrough Performance_, it zoomed in on him and Vanessa gave him a kiss on the cheek right before he stood up. I thought that was so cute!

Anyways, you know how I told you that one of my friends had a role in 'Camp Rock'? Well, he finally told us what it was, and it made me laugh so hard. I actually thought that it was a semi-important role. Of course, not as big as the Jonas Brothers or anything, but instead he's 'BOY 1'. Yep, that's it. Just 'BOY 1'. BIG let down for us. But the good news is that he still has a role in High School Musical 3. We don't know what it is though! I'll keep you updated, and remember to REVIEW.

--Jennie.


	4. Maybe Won't Do

**Author's Note: **Okay, I really owe all of you an apology. I haven't posted in a couple months now, and I'm really sorry. Basically, things were getting really difficult for me at home, and then we found out that my cousin got into a car crash, and we went down to Florida for a few weeks just to stay with him while he's in the hospital. He's in a coma and there hasn't been any response from him yet, so we've all been worried. And on top of that, my grandpa's cancer – which they told us was somewhat under control – has been acting up again and he's back in the hospital.

And, of course, on top of that, school started. And for the first month and a half everything was really hectic and stressful, but it's all calmed down now. I know that that isn't much of an excuse, and I'm really sorry. Also, I'll definitely be putting out chapters faster. I'm guessing everything two or three days, you'll get a new one. But, of course, I'm putting out one today and then I'll try for one more tomorrow(but I'm not going to make any promises), because of the lack of updates.

Here's chapter three – which I have to say is really long (11 pages on Word!).

* * *

'_**Roll me like we're tumbling dice  
A wrecking ball rag doll ain't no breathing space  
All the tapes have been erased  
Prize fighter taking all the punches he can stand  
And dropping on command'**_

_-American Hi-fi, Maybe Won't Do  
_

**Chapter Three – Maybe Won't Do**

"_AND WE'RE on air in 3, 2, 1, action!"_

"_Welcome back. My name is Michael Robins, and we're sitting down with Gabriella Montez."_

_Wringing her hands nervously in her lap, the brunette shifted slightly on the black leather couch, giving the camera a soft smile. She turned to look at the interviewer, smiling at him as well. He was saying something to the camera, but she didn't exactly know what. Her brain wasn't processing the words coming out of his mouth properly. All of the sudden he turned to her, grinning, and silence filled the room. She could feel the eyes of the studio audience on her and swallowed, realizing that she had missed whatever question he had asked her._

"_Pardon?" The studio audience laughed, as did Michael. Gabriella's face burned._

"_Well, I guess that answers my first question right there, but I'll ask it again to be safe. From what I've heard, this is your first live TV interview, am I correct?"_

"_Yeah, it actually is." Gabriella unclasped her hands and rested her left hand on the arm of the couch._

"_And you're how old again?"_

"_Well, I just turned sixteen, actually." She grinned, running a hand through her dark, straightened hair. It was fairly long, stopping around her mid-back._

"_Oh, happy birthday, then!" The room was filled with claps and cheers, and Gabriella immediately relaxed._

"_So you started acting at around three years old, right?"_

"_If you could call it that." Gabriella giggled. "My best friend and I always used to put on mini-productions for our families, or so we've been told. Apparently we used to dress up and use my mom's make-up and everything."_

"_And is this best friend of yours in the acting business as well?"_

"_Not really. He's more of your average jock. And he's probably going to kill me for even mentioning those shows that we used to put on. But I'm grateful for the fact that he's been there to support me, in everything that I've done."_

"_So it's a he, is it?" Michael shot a suggestive look at the audience, and some of them chuckled. "Is this a possible future relationship we're looking at here?"_

_Gabriella laughed again. _Oh, if only you knew._ She thought, before answering the question. "No, no. Nothing like that. He's like my brother."_

"_Okay, then. Moving on, Gabriella, can you tell us anything about the character that you're …""_

_The rest of the interview passed by quickly, with Gabriella giving mostly short answers to the questions. As soon as her interview had ended, and she walked out of sight of the cameras, the brunette hurried through the hallways leading to her makeshift dressing room. She opened the door and was immediately met by a pair of startling blue eyes._

"_Great job, Brie!" He laughed, picking her up and pressing his lips to hers briefly._

"_I thought you were going to be in the audience, Troy!" She pouted, slipping off her heels as she spoke. "I was looking for you!"_

_He ignored her, however, immediately gathering her in his arms and pulling her against his chest. "Your brother, hmm? Then we really shouldn't be doing half the stuff we are, should we?"_

_Gabriella raised a single eyebrow, chocolate brown eyes dancing. "Shut up, Troy." She giggled, cutting him off by pressing her lips to his once more, before he shifted and brought his mouth closer to her ear. She shivered slightly, feeling his hot breath as he spoke._

"_God, I love you."_

* * *

She wanted so much to hate her.

She wanted her to have been rude, stuck up, obnoxious...Anything that would give her a reason to hate her.

And Sonya was anything but hateable.

Gabriella shifted anxiously in her seat, drumming her fingers against the arm of the couch as she glanced around her. Jordan was to her left, one hand gently resting on her upper arm, and a somewhat worried expression on his features. He glanced down at her fingers and then back up at her face, and she gave him a guilty smile and removed her hand from the couch, instead moving it to grasp his firmly, brushing her thumb gently over his knuckles.

A small laugh from the opposite side of the room turned the couple's attention to Sonya, who was seated next to Troy. He had an arm wrapped calmly around her shoulders and was leaning back in his seat, clearly stating that he was comfortable where he was. He moved his head towards her and murmured something into her ear, causing her to laugh again.

Gabriella watched her as she laughed - she watched her carefully. Her milk-chocolate skin seemed to give off and almost bronze glow, and her head was thrown back just the right amount to make her seem almost as though she was taking a perfect picture. Her warm, dark brown eyes were closed and crinkled slightly at the corners, and her mouth was open slightly. Although she tried to hide it from herself, Gabriella realized that Sonya's looks themselves were enough to make Troy want to get to know her. He had always been a sucker for brown eyes and a great smile.

Just as she turned her head to the side, Gabriella's mother, along with Jack and Lucille Bolton, entered the living room, each of them carrying a few glasses of wine in their hands. As Jordan released his hand from her grasp to accept his glass of wine, Gabriella's eyes shot back to Troy and Sonya before she could stop herself. The words that she wanted so badly to say were on the tip of her tongue, and as Troy glanced at her and gave her a small smile, she couldn't stop them from bubbling past her lips. Her quick, quiet question was somehow able to silence the room.

"Troy, can I talk to you outside for a moment?"

Vaguely, she was aware of the parents shooting each other glances – this was clearly the moment that they had anticipated. Troy and Gabriella had hardly spoken to each other during dinner, and the three parents must have assumed that it was because they wanted to have their own private reunion. They believed that they were still best friends and expected something along the lines of a tight hug and reminiscing about 'the good old times'. God, Gabriella wished that it could be as simple as that.

As she followed Troy's stiff form out of the room, however, she was paying just enough attention to note the warning gaze that Jack shot at Troy. Barely containing a strained sigh, Gabriella rolled her eyes. Honestly, what did he think they were going to do? Slam each other into the wall and ravage each other while their boyfriend/girlfriend was just inside, having a quiet conversation with their parents?

Please. Gabriella had no intention of coming even close to ravaging Troy Bolton ever again.

As soon as Gabriella stepped onto the back porch after Troy, she realized that she had absolutely no clue as to where to start – or even what she was going to say. All that she knew was that she needed to get this out of her system, and get it out fast.

Warily, she kept her piercing gaze on his back as he paced back and forth, his eyes focused on the ground. Every now and then, she thought she saw the corners of his mouth tilt upwards slightly in a small smile, but every time she strained her eyes in the darkness to check, his lips seemed to maintain the thin, straight line.

"You look different."

His words cut through the silence like a knife, shocking her back into her senses. He stood a good eight feet away from her, his eyes – reflecting the moon – glinting as he looked her up and down once. This time she was able to see the cocky smirk, and she subconsciously bit her lip, as though she was nervous.

"So do you." Her voice was even, her arms folded across her chest. "I mean, you _are_ different. Not just the way you look. You – your attitude is different. Personality. Whatever. And you have a girlfriend."

His smirk only grew wider as she stumbled slightly over her words. His hands were tucked into the pockets of his jeans, and he flicked his head quickly to the side, clearing the hair from in front of his eyes before he spoke again, his voice low.

"What did you expect? To have a slightly bigger version of the seventeen year old Troy Bolton waiting around for you to come crawling back to me? When you left, it destroyed me. You can't have actually thought that I would worship the ground you walk on the moment you decided to get your stuck up ass back here."

"I didn't come fucking crawling back to you." Gabriella snapped, glaring at him. "I came to visit my parents and see Albuquerque after five years. It just so happens that I was forced to see you when our parents thought a reunion party was perfect. I had absolutely no intention of ever looking at your face again." So the end was a slight lie, but it this new Troy Bolton could take a few shots at his ego.

"Of course you never had any intention of facing me again. You're a fucking coward. Were then and still are now."

"God, Troy. What the hell happened to you?" Gabriella shook her head, looking at him with wide, confused eyes. "Two hours ago, you walk in on me changing, get all shy and embarrassed like you used to, attempt to apologize after five years, have this totally random angry mood swing, make a attempt at being forgiven, are amazingly polite during dinner, and then we come out here and you're back in that angry, cocky, whatever-you-call-it mode."

By the time she was finished talking, she looked so upset and so confused that Troy couldn't help but softening his expression and taking a few rather large steps closer to her. "Brie," He murmured gently, reaching out a hand as if to touch her face.

"Like that!" The brunette's eyes hardened as she quickly stepped back, leaving a good foot of distance in between them. "What the hell, Troy!"

Immediately after seeing her step back from him, Troy's expression turned to stone once more, and his hand fell uselessly to his side.

"You can't seriously expect me to believe that you thought I would stay like that carefree teenager I used to be forever. You're not stupid, Gabriella."

"I didn't expect you to be the same." She mumbled, folding her hands across her chest once more. "I just didn't expect some dark, intimidating, moody –" The brunette broke off, unsure of what to say. 'Man' seemed kind of weird to refer to him, and yet he definitely was no longer a boy.

She let her eyes travel over him once, before taking a couple of steps forward and carefully taking in things that she hadn't before.

He was definitely taller, that she had noticed the moment she set eyes on him. His chest was broader, his shoulders looking sturdier. His jaw was more defined, and she could still make out slight stubble. His lips were curved into a small, half-smile, the piercing blue fixed intently on her as she examined him. His hair was still shaggy, but the slight wings he had in high school were gone. The bangs that usually hung just above his eyes were brushed upwards and slightly to the right, obviously held in place by some sort of gel or mousse. She hadn't realized it before, but the new style to his hair definitely drew attention to his eyes.

If she looked closer, however, she could just make out the slight bags underneath his eyes, the way his shoulders would slump slightly. The way his posture was guarded, and the way his reflected worry. He looked nervous, and it was then that Gabriella realized just how similar their feelings were about this confrontation after so long.

"You grew up."

Her words were said with such innocence that he immediately grinned at her. She smiled softly back, tentatively reaching a hand up towards his face. He leaned into her touch, watching as she ran her hand gently over the stubble on his jaw, seemingly thoroughly fascinated by it.

"Brie." He murmured. "Want me to tell you something?"

"Anything."

"It's only you and Sonya that can make me like this."

"Like what?" Her question, once again, made her sound so innocent that his smile grew.

"I'm not going to lie to you. I'm not a good guy. I'm quiet, reserved I guess. Partially. But-but not in a good way. And then I go to all these clubs, get drunk out of my mind and pass out somewhere. Chad always takes me home." Gabriella flinched slightly as he mentioned the clubs and the drinking, and he kept his gaze fixed on her as he continued on.

"My parents know I'm an ass. I still play ball. Knee got shot about a year ago. Six more months and Doc says I can finally get drafted. Chad says I never let him forget it. But that's not the point. I don't think when I fight. I see red, and I'm sure as hell violent. I'm lazy, self-centered, cocky, arrogant. I'm a smug bastard who could care less about the world around him – or so I've been told."

"Troy-"

"No, listen. I'm not surprised that I'm so gentle around Sonya. I met her about four years ago, and she really got me out of my depressed state, and took the time to help rebuild me, in a way. Friends for three years, and then we dated on and off for a bit. And then eight months ago we really became official, I guess. And-And you. You've always had your hold on me. You could always calm me down. I could never bring myself to hurt you."

"Then why did you?" Gabriella whispered, her voice raising an octave as she struggled to fight back tears. "God, Troy. If you had just talked to me we could have stayed together. I loved you."

"And I loved you."

"You destroyed me."

"You left me."

"You let me."

"You didn't look back."

"You never called."

"You wouldn't have answered if I had."

"How do you know that?"

"Would you have?"

She hesitated. "No."

"Exactly."

"That doesn't change the fact that you still could have tried!"

Silence.

"I should hate you."

"You should."

"Godammit, Troy. What the hell do you want from me?"

"What I've always wanted. You. I'd be anything to you Gabriella. Let me back into your life, please. Let me just be your friend."

"But you can't have me. I can't just be friends with you again – it would be too weird. I have Jordan, remember? Who I love, so, so much. And you have Sonya. Don't you love her?"

"I do. But that doesn't change the fact that I want to be your friend. When has having history with someone ever stopped the real Gabriella Montez from becoming a friend to them?"

"Are you implying something?"

"Only that you're different. I guess fame really does change everyone then, doesn't it, Brie?"

"Don't call me that, I said!"

"Didn't seem to be a problem when you were stroking my face five minutes ago. I bet pretty-boy Jordan would love to hear about that little incident."

"Jordan is more of a man than you'll ever be. At least he's not a fucking coward." She spat the words at him, and was shocked into silence when less than a second later he had her pressed against the brick wall of the house, his hands closed over her wrists and her arms raised above her head, resting on the wall.

"Wanna say that again?"

"Fuck you."

"Call me a coward one more time, Gabriella, I dare you." His grip tightened around her wrists as he brought his mouth closer to hers, hissing the words between his teeth,

"Troy!" She cried out, eyes wide in shock. "Troy, stop!"

"Say it again, Gabriella. Say it!"

"Troy, you're hurting me." A single tear spilled down her cheek, and he released her immediately. She darted away from him, wiping the tears from her eyes and rubbing her wrists.

"Please, Brie…" Troy's voice trailed off as she looked up at him, and he was amazed at the amount of fear he could see in her eyes.

"S-Stay away from me." She stuttered, hurriedly opening the back door. "I mean it, Troy. Don't come near me again."

Gabriella darted back into the house, checking to make sure that her eyes were normal before she entered the room again. There was a silence in the room as everyone looked at her, before the back door slammed once more and Troy was right behind her. The brunette quickly made her way to where she had seated herself previously beside Jordan, smiling as he wrapped an arm around her automatically.

Leaning slightly into his chest, she looked around the room, grinning to herself at all the changes she hadn't noticed before.

Gabriella realized that she hadn't actually been in the living room in over five years. Whenever she had seen her parents, they had either met up halfway, or they would come and visit her in L.A. She would never have admitted it to herself, much less to anyone else, but the reason was mainly that she had always tried to stay away from Albuquerque was the memories it held for her, namely everything to do with a certain sandy-haired, blue-eyed man who was currently looking at her intently.

As she looked around the room, her gaze rested on the mantle above the fireplace. Over the years, it had certainly changed. The pictures were of family members more recently, rather than years ago. Gabriella's baby picture still remained on it, though, along with one other thing that hadn't changed.

Not really paying attention to Jordan mumbling slightly in protest as she shifted out of his grasp, or the eyes of everyone in the room on her, she covered the width of the room in a few quick, anxious steps. Her hand, trembling slightly, lifted up and grasped a picture, pulling it closer to her face, her fingertips trailing over the figures.

It was a picture of her and Troy – six years ago. They were in his grandmother's backyard, seated on an old porch swing. The background was a mixture of emerald green, creamy white, bright red, faded orange, pale pink and deep purple – the swing was just in front of the garden. Gabriella closed her eyes as she fell back into the past, that day clearly standing out for her.

_It was a Saturday, around 10 o'clock in the morning. Gabriella had flown to Florida with the rest of the Boltons to visit Troy's grandmother, and the older woman was particularly fond of her. It had been a late night last night, and knowing the Boltons, she didn't expect any of them to get up until noon. She had already called her mother and assured her that everything was great. She had eaten, and now was settled on the old porch swing with a book in her hands, letting herself get completely absorbed in the fantasy world._

_Gabriella didn't know how much time had passed, but regardless of that fact, she screamed when she felt two arms snake around her waist. It was only when she heard a low chuckle that she relaxed, turning around and whacking Troy on the side of his head._

"_Troy Bolton, I can't believe you. You know how scared I get."_

"_Ah, I love you too, Brie." He grinned, removing the book from her hands and pressing a kiss gently to her forehead. "Isn't this great? No paparazzi, no thousands of fans watching your every move, no horny teenagers trying to hit on you. Just you and me."_

"_Ugh." Gabriella groaned, still pouting. "You're a horny teenager too, you know."_

"_Yes, but that's different. See, you belong to me."_

"_You can't own anyone, Troy. And don't try and change the subject. You promised that you wouldn't scare me any more."_

"_Aw, come on. I can't help it. You look so cute when you get scared."_

_Gabriella looked down, a faint blush rising in her cheeks. "Charmer." She mumbled. "Still doesn't change the fact that I'm mad at you." She folded her arms across her chest, frowning._

_Troy shifted closer to her on the old swing, shifting himself so that one arm was around her waist, drawing her closer to him. "You can't stay mad at me, Brie. You have no one else to talk to, and you know that you can't live without talking every five minutes."_

_Just as Gabriella opened her mouth to respond, a quiet voice interrupted them._

"_Oh, she has me to talk to. Besides, I could do with listening to how annoying you are for a while." Sherry Bolton was about five feet tall, gray-haired and always smiling. In her hands, Gabriella noticed, was one of those large, black, professional cameras._

"_Grandma!" Troy protested. "I can't believe you're taking her side over your own grandson's."_

"_Oh, get over it, Troy. Now, you two, I want a picture of the dream couple. Come on, now. Give me a smile."_

_Immediately, Troy, wrapped his arms around Gabriella's stomach, and she rested her hands on his. He pressed his lips to her cheek, and she wrinkled her nose, attempting to still be mad at him. He continuously kissed her cheek over and over again, the bit of stubble he had tickling her. She giggled slightly, her nose still wrinkled, and he held his lips to her cheek._

_And then the camera went off._

Gabriella's eyes opened as her fingertips traced her smile and then Troy's, her chocolate gaze lifting to meet his worried one. It was then that she was aware of six other pairs of eyes on her.

"I-I-" She stuttered, suddenly at a lost for words. Her nose wrinkled slightly in confusion and she bit her bottom lip. "I'm sorry." Her voice broke and she darted out of the room, the picture still in her hands. After a second, the slam of the front door was heard.

As soon as the house was silent once more, Mrs. Montez, Jack and Lucille Bolton turned towards Troy. His jaw was set, his expression stony. From the way he tightly clutched the couch, it seemed as though he was fighting with himself to go after her.

At the same time, however, Jordan rose, placing his wine glass on the coffee table.

"Excuse me," He nodded to Mrs. Montez, hurrying towards the front door. His bright green eyes were wide with worry, and as soon as he left the room, Troy bolted after him.

"Jordan!" He called out, just as the other man was opening the front door. "Wait. She-you're not going to know where she is."

Jordan turned towards him, closing his eyes briefly and running a hand through his hair. "God, you're right." He choked out. "She could be anywhere. By herself, late at night, nothing to protect herself with. And I'm not there to watch over her."

He sunk down on the wall, holding his head in his hands and mumbling to himself. As much as Troy wanted to be the one to comfort Gabriella, he felt slightly sympathetic towards Jordan, and Gabriella's warning was ringing through his mind.

"The park."

"W-What?"

"She's at the park." Troy answered quietly. "Walk right, hang a left on Chester and she'll be there. By the big apple tree."

"Thanks, Tr-"

"Don't mention it. Better hurry up, too. See you in a bit, man."

Troy watched as Jordan rose to his feet, opening the door and breaking out into a run in the direction he had told him to go. The blue-eyed man sighed, closing the door and leaning his head back against it, the evening re-playing through his head.

His one chance to be something to her and he had gone and fucked that up.

Again.

'_**What don't you understand  
Forget the master plan  
I'd give it all away to have you back again'**_


	5. Best I Ever Had

**A/N:** Fourth chapter! Here it is, guys.

I'm working on the fifth one right now, so hopefully it should be out later this weekend! Enjoy!

**

* * *

**

**_'So many things I would take back  
You were the best I ever had  
I don't blame you for hating me  
I didn't mean to make you leave'_**

_-State of Shock, Best I Ever Had _

**Chapter Four – Best I Ever Had**

"What do you mean, divorced?" Gabriella ran a hand furiously through her dark locks, glaring at her mother incredulously.

The older woman bit her lip nervously – a habit that her daughter had picked up – and continued to unload the groceries from the plastic bags in front of her. Still not looking up to meet her daughter's gaze, Maria Montez hurriedly attempted to change the subject.

"You and Jordan seem to have a really strong relationship. Last time I saw you guys was, what? Four years ago? You seemed really shaky then, but now-"

"Mom, you can't just spring something like this on me and attempt to change the subject right after!"

"Gabriella, I really don't think we should be talking about this right now."

"You're right, mom! We should have talked about it three years ago, when it happened!" There was a short silence in the room, the twenty-two year old fiddling with the string of her sweatpants, yet not moving her gaze from her mother's face.

"I didn't –"

"God, I'm such an idiot. All those times that we talked on the phone, and I asked if dad was there? You always said he was either at work, or in the shower, or lying down because he felt sick. And in the e-mails, when you said that dad really missed me, and that you two were writing together. It was all just a load of crap, wasn't it?"

"Gabriella Montez, you know that I don't approve of that language in my house."

"Mom, I'm not a kid anymore! I don't need to be treated like one and I didn't need to be treated like one three years ago. I was a legal adult. Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

"Sweetie, you were at such a high point in your career. You had, what, three movies coming out? You needed to be focused on work and not worrying about problems between me and your father." Maria rested her hands on the kitchen counter, looking up to watch her daughter look down and begin to fiddle with the bottom of her t-shirt.

"It was two movies. And-And I could have been here, mom. Work could have waited. If you had just asked me to come, I would have been here right away. I thought you knew that."

"Gabriella, please listen to me." Maria crossed the kitchen quickly, placing her hand gently on her daughter's arm. "Your father and I were divorced because of many different things – things that had been building up over the years, okay? You were nineteen – too young to understand everything."

"I was a legal adult." She repeated.

"Yes, you were. But your father…he's a difficult man, Gabriella. He wanted things that I never allowed him to have. I protected you as best as I could, sweetie."

The brunette looked up, dark chocolate locking with hazel. "What happened, mom? What did he want?" Her voice was quiet, the words spoken just above a whisper.

"I can't tell you."

"Mom, please. I'm an adult now, I can deal with it. Just tell me, mom, what did he want? Just a sentence, and I'll be fine."

"I can't tell you - but I wish I could. Please, Gabriella. I really don't want to have this conversation anymore." She turned her back to her daughter, clearly signalling that the conversation was over.

"You know what, mom?" Gabriella began, narrowing her eyes at the back of her mother's head and folding her arms across her chest. "Fine. Don't tell me anything - keep me protected or whatever you think you're doing. This is something that I have to know, mom. It's part of my life and I can't go on and pretend like everything's okay when I don't even know why my own father left the family - my family. I understand if you think that this is the best thing for me, but you have to let me in, mom."

Silence.

"Please?"

Again, silence.

"I can't do this, mom. You stay here and stay silent. Get a hold of me when you're ready to talk. I'm going out. Tell Jordan to call me when he gets back."

* * *

"Hello?"

_"Gabriella! I hope I didn't catch you at a bad time?"_

The brunette nearly dropped her cell in surprise, the black Mercedes swerving slightly as she quickly spoke into the reciever.

"Mrs. Bolton?!"

_"Yes, honey. Are you okay?"_

"I'm fine, I'm fine. Just surprised, is all. I'm just in the car now, actually."

_"Oh, shoot. I was going to ask you if you wanted to stop by for a bit. I have someone here who wants to see you. Ah well, then. I guess I'll just-"_

"No, wait. I'm not particularly going anywhere." Gabriella bit her lip, silently cursing her curiosity for getting the best of her. "Could I ask who it is?"

_"Ah ah ah." Came the scolding from the other line. "You'll just have to come by and see, then, won't you?"_

The brunette rolled her eyes. Sure, Mrs. Bolton was such a sweetheart, but sometimes she could get slightly frustrating. It was only then that Gabriella remembered that Troy was with his parents. He had mentioned something the other night about staying with his parents, hadn't he? But he couldn't be there at the moment. What twenty-two year old male was sitting at home at 9 AM on a Monday morning, instead of either at work or working out, or something of that sort? Besides, her and Lucille Bolton had always maintained a good friendship. It would be good to catch up with her individually.

Gabriella quickly pulled a sharp U-turn, smiling as she spoke. "I'll be there in ten minutes."

* * *

"Uh...Are you lost?"

Gabriella let her mouth hang open and glanced up at the blue-eyed man that had opened the door. So maybe he _was_ at home. Although she had no idea why.

"Aren't you supposed to be at work?" She asked quickly, avoiding his gaze.

"Er...Yeah." He sounded surprised, to say the least. "Wait, I mean no. No school today."

"School?" The question came before she could stop herself.

"I teach at a middle school just a couple blocks down." Troy watched her subconsciously wrap her arms around herself as though they were her protection from him, and silently cursed himself again for the other night. "Look, Brie-"

"Is your mom here?"

"She's just in the shower right now. Do you want to come in?" He held the door open for her and stood to the side, his gaze unwavering.

"S-Sure."

Gabriella passed him quickly, taking off her shoes and walking slowly down the hallway before turning to the left and entering the kitchen. It hadn't changed since the last time she had seen it, apart from the new fridge and stove. She made her way over to the glass door, looking outside and seeing the familiar basketball court. At this thought she smiled softly.

"Do you want anything to drink?"

The brunette turned around, seeing Troy standing by the fridge and looking at her, a hand placed on the back of his neck. She knew from experience that that meant that he was nervous, and immediately averted her gaze from his form.

"Just water, thanks. And-"

"No ice." They both said simultaneously. Gabriella couldn't help smiling, making her way over to the island in the middle of the kitchen and leaning against it.

"There you go." Troy placed the glass in front of her, relaxing back against the granite countertop.

An uncomfortable silence filled the room, as Gabriella took a quick sip of her drink before Troy spoke.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Do you hate me?"

There was a short silence, Gabriella's expression softening at the look on Troy's face.

"Troy, you know I don't hate you."

"It seemed like it."

"I'm sorry, then."

"You're sorry?" He asked incredulously. "For what? I should be the one apologizing."

"Wildc-Troy," Gabriella corrected herself quickly. "I could never hate you. Strongly dislike you and not want to be around you at all? Yes. But not hate."

"I don't want you to be afraid of me."

Silence.

"Gabriella, you have to understand that sometimes my emotions shift. When you say certain things, or do certain things. When anyone does, I'll change."

"I don't understand what happened the other night, Troy. I'm not going to lie. But I can't pretend that I'm okay with it. If that's what's going to happen on a daily basis, I can't handle that."

"I want to be your friend."

"I can't do that."

"Because we have history?"

She turned her head away from him.

"Look, if you're as in love with Jordan as you say you are, then you have nothing to worry about, do you? If I'm okay with it, why aren't you?" His voice was hard, yet he caught himself before he spoke harsher.

He knew that she would never admit to being weaker. Damn him.

"All I'm asking is for us to talk again and spend some time with each other. Not to randomly make out." Catching her shocked expression at his last sentence, he hurriedly spoke. "Sorry."

"Troy-"

"Please?"

She looked at him for a moment, neither one of them speaking or moving. "I-Okay." Gabriella nodded at last, tearing her gaze away from his face. "I'll try, Troy. That's really the best that I can do."

"And that's all that I'm asking." He grinned back at her, flicking his head to the side to clear the hair out of his eyes.

They were quiet for a while, sitting in a slightly more comfortable silence. The brunette traced the rim of her glass over and over again, looking at the counter and thinking to herself.

"What grade do you teach?" She asked suddenly, looking up at him.

"What grade?" He repeated, waiting for her to nod before speaking again. "Seven." He caught the smile that had formed on her lips and raised an eyebrow in curiosity. "Why do you ask?"

"I just never took you for the teaching type, is all. And grade seven is pretty important, is it not?"

"I have a degree." Troy defended, blushing.

"That you took the time to get when?"

"I switched my major in university."

"Ah." Gabriella turned her head to the side, nodding. "Why?"

He was silent for a moment, before folding his arms across his chest and replying. "I guess I wanted to be able to feel that carefree joy again. Middle school was one of the best times of my life, and somehow I guess I thought that teaching could allow me to relive it."

"How are the kids?"

Troy immediately grinned at her, speaking in a rush. "Oh, they're all great. Sure, there are still cliques and everything like any school would have, but each clique has a variety of different kids, who all enjoy a bunch of different things. You can't really put labels to each group. And they all work so hard - no one's failing at all, I'm proud to say. And the school itself it amazing. It's so diverse, and there are all sorts of clubs and teams. I'm getting so involved - I'm the staff supervisor for three clubs, at the moment."

"Which are?"

He quickly turned scarlet, bringing his hand up to rest on the back of his neck once more. He mumbled something incoherent and Gabriella giggled and leaned forward.

"Sorry, what?"

"Basketball Club, Food Appreciation Club and -" He paused, taking a deep breath and looking at the ground. "The Gabriella Montez Fanclub."

She was quiet for a moment, before she burst out laughing. Troy frowned and looked up, glaring at her, and waited until she was silent before speaking.

"It's not funny."

"It's not funny?" Gabriella grinned at him, raising an eyebrow in question. "Troy."

"It's not like I started the thing! They needed a supervisor, and most of the other teachers are old. And there was this whole big group that approached me - I couldn't say no."

"Mmhm." She nodded, still grinning. "It couldn't have anything to do with the fact that you knew me before I was a celebrity, could it?" She teased.

"Gabs, come on. Do you really think I would just go and blurt that out randomly?"

"Nope, not at all."

"You're being sarcastic."

"No I'm not."

"See, there you go again. It's not like I'm your biggest fan or anything. They just needed someone -"

"And the first person they came to just happened to be you?"

"Gabs,"

"Troy," She mimicked, giggling and poking her tongue out at him.

He frowned, and she laughed again before shaking her head and giving in. "Alright, alright. I'll stop. It's just funny, that's all."

"It's not funny."

"Fine, then. Amusing. Better?"

He glared at her for a moment, but finally grinned and folded his arms across his chest again, looking up at something on the ceiling. Gabriella watched him, replaying the moment just before over again in her head, smiling as she remembered how much they were acting like they were when they were kids. But then again, she thought, the smile fading, the easy friendship part of their relationship was never what posed a problem.

"Gabriella!" A loud squeal interrupted her thoughts and both Troy and Gabriella looked up with wide eyes as a bundle of pink came flying at the brunette, pulling her into a hug.

When at last she had a chance to breathe, Gabriella pulled away from her old friend, looking her over and smiling. "Sharpay!"

"Gabs! I can't believe that you're finally back - what has it been? Like, fifty years?"

"Hardly, Shar. Try five or so." The brunette gave an attempt at a small smile, and was quickly cut off as her friend started rambling.

"Oh, well still. That's five years too long. For a while, I thought that you being all Ms. Big-Shot-I-Got-To-Kiss-Chad-Michael-Murray-And-Am-A-Huge-Celebrity were never going to get your ass back here."

"And I can now see why Lucille wanted to keep the fact that it was you as my surprise a secret."

"Did you honestly not even miss me a bit?"

The blonde frowned and turned away from her friend, and Gabriella bit her lip before pulling her into another hug - one that was gladly returned. "Of course I missed you, Shar."

The blonde haired, brown eyed girl had always been Gabriella's best friend - after Troy, of course. As Troy's cousin (Mrs. Evans was Jack Bolton's sister), whenever he was not around the two were always together. Their friendship started off with Sharpay, being Sharpay, slapping Gabriella in kindergarten after accusing her of stealing her 'baby cousin' (Troy) away from her. Somehow ever since that day, when a teary-eyed Gabriella had slapped Sharpay back and thoroughly scolded her, a friendship had blossomed. The two of them discussed what they never could with anyone else - Gabriella's crush on Troy from third grade, the money troubles that the Evans family was having in grade six, and many other things. Of course, the two grew up together and discussed things that neither of them could talk about with Troy (although they had tried discussing tampons around him and he had gagged and fled the room). How could she not have missed her?

Sharpay sternly glared at Troy from where her head rested on Gabriella's shoulder and mouthed to him to leave. The blue-eyed man gave a polite cough and the two pulled back, Gabriella's chocolate gaze looking intently at him.

"I'm gonna go now - but I'll call you, alright Gabs?"

Not missing the questioning gaze that Sharpay was giving her, the brunette nodded and smiled softly at him. Clearly, she had noticed the rift between them. And Sharpay Evans never had left a question unanswered in her twenty-two years. "Sure."

"Right." Troy gave a somewhat awkward nod before crossing the kitchen in a few big strides. "See ya, Shar. Bye, Brie." He winked at her, caused her to blush, before leaving the kitchen. A few seconds later, the slam of the front door was heard.

"I knew it wasn't gone."

"Shar,"

"I was telling Chad but he wouldn't listen. I was telling Ryan and he wouldn't listen. I was telling Lucille and even she wouldn't listen. It was always 'Troy has Sonya' or 'It's been a while, Sharpay' or something of that sort."

"Shar,"

"And now I'm going to prove them all wrong. When you have three little Gabriellas and Troys running around in a front yard with a white picket fence, they're all going to finally have to turn to me and say-"

"Sharpay!"

"Sorry, were you talking?"

Gabriella rolled her eyes, holding her face in her hands and resting her elbows on the granite countertop. "For God's sake, Shar. It's been five years. Troy has Sonya-" When her friend looked like she was about to interrupt, the brunette quickly continued on. "And I have Jordan. Troy and I are over, and we've been over for a while."

"But-"

"Shar, there's been too many things that have happened, and we've both moved on. We're just friends now."

"Jesus, you're impossible." Sharpay sighed, folding her arms across her chest before seating herself in one of the tall chairs next to the island. She drummed her fingers on the countertop before plastering a fake smile on her face and looking over at Gabriella.

"So are you going to tell me why you decided to just leave and not come back for half a decade?" The brunette's face fell and immediately her expression shifted to a guilty one. "Or how about how you talked to Chad for at least a good year or two regularly after you left, and yet you never bothered to return any of my calls or even send me an e-mail?"

Gabriella closed her eyes and turned her head to the side, her vision filled with a view of a bedroom of an older apartment.

_"Is all you wanted a good fuck, then?"_

_"You're not asking me that."_

_"I'm asking it. And I want an answer. Fuck the basketball star and go brag to Hollywood about it? Is that what you're plan is? You were playing me!"_

_"You know that it's nothing like that. Why can't you just understand?"_

_"There is nothing to understand! You know, I never took you for a whore."_

_The brunette crossed the room quickly and raised a hand to slap him across the cheek. His cobalt gaze burned her, full of contempt, and yet she didn't look anywhere else but at his face. Slowly, a red handprint formed on his cheek, and she blinked back tears as she hissed at him, voice strong._

_"Fuck you, Troy."_

"I'm waiting." The blonde's impatient voice cut across Gabriella's thoughts, and she bit her lip as an attempt to fight away the memories threatening to resurface after all these years. She didn't want to be reminded of the rest of the fight - or what had happened both before and after. She didn't need that right now.

"Look, Shar, I'm sorry." Sharpay raised a single eyebrow and stared pointedly at the brunette. "And I know that you hate hearing just that, but that's all that I can give you right now. I promise I'll tell you, okay? Just...later."

A silence followed where the blonde scrutinized her friend, before at last her face broke into a smile and she raised her eyebrows and crossed her legs.

"So, really. Was kissing **the** Chad Michael Murray really as good as I think it was?"

Gabriella groaned.

_**'Now I'm here so say I'm sorry  
And ask for a second chance  
'Cause when it all comes down to the end  
I could sure use a friend**' _


	6. If Today Was Your Last Day

**A/N:** Here's chapter five! Sorry about the wait, guys. I was sick for a week and nearly had to go the hospital, and ever since then I've had work piling up. I'm going to try and post another chapter sometime this week, but I'm not promising anything. I'll try my best, though. Thanks for the support!

* * *

**'If today was your last day and tomorrow was too late  
Could you say goodbye to yesterday?  
Would you live each moment like your last?  
Leave old pictures in the past?'**

_- Nickelback, If Today Was Your Last Day_

**Chapter Five - If Today Was Your Last Day**

"Gabs? Are you even listening to anything that I've been telling you for the past ten minutes?"

The brunette opened one eye and glared up at her blonde friend. "Would YOU be listening if someone came barging into your room at seven in the morning and going on this rant about how this guy they were hanging off of all of last night wouldn't call her? Especially if said guy had stated that he had a girlfriend multiple times throughout the night?"

"See! You have so not been listening to anything that I've been saying! What's got your panties in a bunch this morning, sunshine?" Sharpay asked sarcastically, pausing in her pacing and settling herself on the edge of the bed.

Gabriella sat up, adjusting her black tanktop and lifting her arms to rub her eyes before she turned to her friend incredulously. "Sharpay, last night you took me out to a club that you stated was exclusive, and yet I had to spend the entire night attempting to disguise myself and hide in a bathroom. Not only that, but you were totally smashed and left me to take you home, meaning that I got home at two in the morning! I've only had four and a half hours of sleep, and if Jordan wasn't awake and waiting for me, I probably would have fallen over right there, meaning that in the morning I would have been-"

"So for you guys sex only takes half an hour? Impressive."

"Sharpay."

"Fine, fine. I'm sorry. Want me to wait a couple hours downstairs, so Ms. Celebrity can get her beauty rest?"

"No, I'm awake now. Give me a minute and we'll go down together."

The brunette slowly got out of bed, running her fingers through the tangled mess of curls on her head and made her way over to the bathroom. She registered the presence of someone leaning on the doorframe to the bathroom, but it was only when the person spoke that she realized it was not the blonde that she expected.

"You look delightful this morning, Ella." Jordan grinned as she jumped and turned around to face him, still with her toothbrush in her mouth. "Mind you, I could do without the foaming mouth that sort of makes you look as though you have rabies."

Gabriella rolled her eyes and continued to brush her teeth, spitting and rinsing her mouth before speaking. "Mmhm, laugh all you want Superstar. But I'm not the one who's woken up thinking that he's been attacked by a giant teddy bear or yelling and thinking his mother is chasing him with a butcher's knife."

He held up his hands in surrender, before taking a couple steps towards her and wrapping his arms around her small frame. She leaned her head on his chest, smiling. "You're never going to let me live that down, are you Ella?" He murmured into her hair.

"Nope." She giggled, detangling herself from him and tilting her head up to press a soft kiss to his cheek. "And you're just going to have to deal with it, Mr. Brady."

Jordan groaned, and followed her out of her room, down the stairs and into the kitchen. Sharpay was seated on one of the kitchen chairs, filing her nails and chatting with Mrs. Montez. When the two entered the kitchen however, a somewhat uncomfortable silence took over. Gabriella refused to look at her mom and instead focused on making herself breakfast, while Jordan stood awkwardly to the side as Sharpay silently looked him over. Mrs. Montez was quiet, sitting on another one of the kitchen chairs and sipping a cup of coffee.

"And you must be Jordan." The blonde sniffed at last, eyeing him and then Gabriella critically. The brunette had her back turned away from the other occupants of the room, and Jordan fumbled for something to say.

"Uh-"

"Oh, leave him alone." Gabriella spoke quickly, smiling at him before turning to look at Sharpay. "Sharpay, Jordan. Jordan, Sharpay. Don't mind her, Superstar, she'll warm up to you eventually. She's just attempting to be intimidating - she's really only half as bad."

"Right." Jordan smiled as well, holding his hand out to Sharpay.

She looked at it, then looked back up at him, nodding once. It was almost like a dismissal, and he didn't know what to do.

"That's her form of shaking your hand, babe." Gabriella told him, seating herself beside Sharpay and as far away from her mother as possible. "Shar, come on. Cut him some slack, please?"

"The things I do for you, Gabs." Sharpay rolled her eyes, leaning forward and shaking Jordan's hand once. "Nice to meet you. I'm Sharpay Evans."

"Pleasure." He grinned at last, folding his arms across his chest. "I can't say that I've heard that much about you. Seems like Ella hasn't told me about quite a few people that she has here back home."

"Really?" Sharpay feigned surprise, shooting Gabriella a look that the brunette chose to ignore.

"Again, sorry Jordan. Sharpay is Troy's cousin, and the three of us always hung around together as kids. We met Chad in fourth grade."

"So he knows about Troy, but not about me?"

"Don't start, Shar. Why are you always blowing things out of proportion? Troy came over the night we got here. So I didn't tell Jordan who you were, big deal!"

"It is a big deal! I haven't heard from you in five years, and then when I finally do I learn that someone who is a large part of your life has no clue as to who I am!"

Jordan stood to the side, watching the two bickering back and forth. Mrs. Montez turned to him and smiled. "It's okay, they're usually like this. They're fighting one second, and hugging each other the next. It's a strange friendship, but that's the way it's always been." She whispered, standing up and leaving the room just as Gabriella fired back a heated reply.

"I don't want to argue with you about the keeping in touch, too! Can you calm down for five seconds?"

"Who else did you argue with? Troy? You know, I'm still waiting for you to tell me why you left without a word? I'm no Troy Bolton, but I'm praying that I still mean something to you."

"This has nothing to do with whether or not you're anything like Troy! Of course you mean something to me, Shar. Just relax."

"This has nothing to do with whether or not I am relaxed!" She imitated. "I would think that you would at least be completely honest in your relationship."

"I don't need you to tell me how to handle my relationship. In case you haven't noticed, I've been handling it just fine for the past four years."

"Don't try and pull the celebrity card on me, now, Montez."

"What celebrity card? Sharpay, I was just making a point, why do you have to be so over the top about everything?"

There was a short pause, and Jordan thought from the expression on Sharpay's face that she was going to explode. Gabriella wasn't much better, hands folded across her chest and eyes seeming to burn a hole into the blonde in front of her.

"Sorry." Sharpay said at last, nodding her head once. Half a second later, the two were hugging and laughing, and talking about what to do later on in the day. Jordan frowned, clearly not understanding the friendship between the two and having not seen Gabriella have such a mood swing before. After a couple minutes of silence, he made his way over to behind his girlfriend's chair, placing his hands on her shoulders and slowly beginning to knead as she continued to eat.

"Mmm," The brunette grinned, relaxing and leaning into his touch. "I knew there was a reason why I asked you to come with me."

"Very funny, Ella." Jordan chuckled, bending down and pressing a kiss to her forehead. "Hurry up and finish eating your breakfast, alright? Maybe we could go for a swim?"

Sharpay watched the two interact, and couldn't help but smiling as she noticed that this must be somewhat of a routine. Both seemed completely at ease, and Gabriella looked as though she were never happier. Something was tugging at the corners of her mind, however, and she couldn't help but think about how Troy and Gabriella had acted around each other yesterday morning. Shy, yes, but it was a shyness that seemed as though it was supposed to be there, a shyness that was a part of what made them 'Troy and Gabriella' as a whole. Because under that shyness, there was a sense of familiarity that was nearly impossible to miss. One that Jordan and Gabriella seemed to be lacking.

"I-"

"Actually, Jordan, I was hoping that Gabs and I could go for a Girls' Day today?" The blonde interrupted, smiling sweetly. "You know, shopping, mani, pedi. Maybe visit a couple of old friends?"

The brunette man seemed shocked by the way she had spoken to him, but he quickly gathered himself together and replied smoothly. "Oh, alright then. I guess I could call up Chad and see what he's doing?"

"Already male bonding, are we?" Gabriella teased, not moving her gaze from where it rested questioningly on Sharpay.

"Your friends are my friends, Ella." He spoke firmly.

"Are you sure you're going to be okay? I feel like I keep abandoning you here-"

"I'll be fine, I'll be fine. You go out and have fun today, alright? And then tonight we'll stay in and see what movies are on, sound good?"

"You are amazing." Gabriella giggled. "I promise I'll be back by six. And I'll have my cell on me, so just call me if you need anything or if you get too bored with Chad."

He gave her a crooked smile, and turned to Sharpay. "Take care of her, alright?" He joked, good naturedly.

The blonde nodded once, but wondered why she imaged a double meaning in his words - almost as if he were giving her a warning. Clearly, he didn't fully trust her. Oh, if only he knew.

* * *

"Because this seems like the perfect place to have a Girls Day, Shar." Gabriella muttered sarcastically, taking in the red brick middle school that they were parked in front of.

"Come on, I have a surprise. Well, technically you're the surprise, but trust me. These kids were so excited to hear that you would be coming here to meet them, and you can't let them down now."

"Sharpay, when did you do this? You've only known that I was here for what? Two days now?"

"I called the school yesterday. Not to mention that after that I spent another hour calling each student's house and making them promise not to reveal your whereabouts to anyone. So now that security is taken care of, are you coming?" The blonde rested her hand on the inside of the car door, turning to look at her friend.

"Since when did you care so much about me visiting a school? I never would have thought that you would take the time to call an entire middle school-"

"Just one class, actually."

"Even just one class to organize something like this. Are you trying to impress someone?"

"It's hardly me that cares about this someone being impressed. We have to hurry, though, Gabs. We have a time limit and the teacher doesn't know that you're coming, so-"

"And if the teacher doesn't know that I'm coming, how is this okay? I don't want to get in trouble with a staff member, Sharpay. And what if these kids have a test today? We can't interrupt them just so I can-"

"Oh, they'll get their education, Gabs. Don't worry about it, I've got it covered. You haven't changed since you were fifteen, have you? Still so worried about school that you can never appreciate when someone does something good if it interrupts with precious education."

"Fine, fine. But only because you surprisingly put so much effort into it." She mumbled.

"Haha, very funny, Gabs." The blonde sighed, opening the door to the pink convertible and standing in front of the car, waiting for her friend to get out.

Gabriella stepped out of the car, hurriedly adjusting the thicker black straps to her flowing, deep purple tank top. She pulled the light, gray cardigan out of the car and pulled it on, before doing a quick spin for her friend. Her black jeans were tucked into the black fringe boots that she wore, and her hair was down and wavy - her bangs just reaching her eyebrows.

"Yes, yes, you look fine, now let's go." Sharpay grabbed her friend's hand and tugged her away - leaving Gabriella just barely enough time to pick up her Balenciaga bag before being pulled into the school.

* * *

"Okay, now put this on..." Sharpay leaned over to pin the square blue piece of paper onto her friend's cardigan, readjusting it so that the word 'Visitor' was visible. "So now whenever someone in the school sees you, they won't freak and call campus security on you."

"Campus security? We never had a campus security, did we?" The brunette asked, wringing her hands together nervously. "Sharpay, I don't know about this. I mean, if anyone finds out that I was here -"

"Why are you so overly paranoid all of the sudden? I promised you that I had security taken care of, didn't I? Besides, I have a feeling someone will be thanking you after this." She smiled, turning into a hallway on the left just as Gabriella was about to question what she had meant by that. "Now hurry up, it's just a few doors down."

The two walked together in silence for the next couple of minutes, Gabriella glancing around her to see dozens of posters plastered all over the lockers and walls. They were each neon - either yellow, green, orange or pink, and each was an advertisement. Pep rallies, soccer tryouts, musical auditions... This school certainly had a lot of extra curricular activities.

"Gabs, it's right here."

Gabriella turned around and looked at her friend, who was standing a couple of feet away from her in front of a wooden door. Something about the way that the blonde girl suddenly seemed tense, the way she was tapping her foot rather impatiently against the tiled floor signaled something to the brunette. She swallowed nervously, closing the distance in between them with a couple of steps.

"Shar...is there something that you wanted to tell me before we go in?" She lifted an eyebrow knowingly, and was startled that Sharpay turned her head to the side, not meeting her gaze. Instead, she replied quickly.

"Nope, nothing at all. Now in we go, Montez."

Before Gabriella had a chance to say anything, Sharpay had opened the door to the classroom and pushed her inside, following after her and closing the door quietly behind them.

As they entered the classroom, a surprised silence fell over the students, as twenty-four pairs of eyes turned towards her. Nervously, the brunette lifted a hand to wave at the class, smiling softly. However, she managed to keep her voice steady as she giggled a 'Hey'.

The teacher of the class turned his head to the side slowly, bright blue eyes wide in surprise.

"Gabriella?"

"Troy." She breathed.

"Yeah Mr. B!" Someone called from the back of the class.

"Adam, sit down." Troy sighed, not taking his eyes off of the brunette in front of him.

Gabriella's head snapped to the side, meeting the gaze of a fairly muscular kid with dark, spiked hair and smirking gray eyes sinking down back into his seat.

"Brie, what are you doing here?" Troy asked quietly, pulling her towards a corner of the classroom. She glanced over at Sharpay, only to find her amusingly pacing back and forth in front of the classroom, watching them with an icy stare. Everyone looked down at their books, clearly not wanting to bother her.

"I-Sharpay-We-She-I didn't-" Gabriella stuttered, pulling her hands out of his grasp before grinning up at him. "Surprise?"

"Wait - Mr. Bolton?"A shy voice from the middle of the classroom interrupted Troy before he could respond. A girl with her blonde hair tied into two braided ponytails lifted her hand timidly.

"Yes, Nicole?"

"You didn't tell us that you knew Gabriella Montez."

Immediately, all of the students started whispered amongst themselves. Above the buzz, someone called out. "That would explain why he was so eager to be the teacher supervisor for her fan club."

Troy turned a rather interesting shade of pink, and Gabriella came to his rescue quickly, laughing.

"Yeah, Troy and I were pretty good friends when we were younger." After a cough from a certain blonde, she added. "And Sharpay, of course."

A good dozen or so hands shot into the air at once, and Gabriella pointed to a small girl in the front row.

"Caitlyn." The girl said, pushing her glasses a little bit further up the bridge of her nose. "I think that you're amazing. And, what high school did you go to?"

"Thank you. All three of us went to East High, actually. Mind you, Troy and Sharpay graduated from there as well. I left the summer after tenth grade to pursue my acting career." She pointed to a tall boy with shaggy, dark brown hair.

"Tony. Are you really pregnant?"

Gabriella's eyes grew wide, and she turned to look at Troy, who was frowning at Tony.

"Kidding Mr. B, kidding. What made you pursue a music career as well as an acting career?"

"Class clown, hmm?" She laughed. "Anyways, music has always been a passion of mine. Just ask Troy - he used to drone on and on about how I would never leave him alone. I would always write and perform songs. He was the lucky one who got to listen to all of them." She grinned at Troy, who had his face in his hands, shaking his head. "My acting career has been amazing, don't get me wrong. But music was always something that was at the back of my mind. So I took a short break, and now I have my first album out."

"Does that mean you're done with acting?" The boy, Adam, asked from the back of the classroom. "Damn, girl. But you're so damn sex-" Catching Troy's glare, he quickly corrected himself - however, still making Gabriella blush. "Sensible. Your acting is very sensible." The class laughed at him, and Troy groaned, coming over to stand beside her.

"Sorry." He muttered into her ear. "They're usually better than this. If I had known you were coming, I would have told them-"

"Don't worry about it." She whispered back, turning to the class. "No, I'm not finished with my acting career. In fact, this is totally top secret, but Jordan and I are actually about to start filming another movie once we get back to L.A." She pointed to another girl.

"Amanda. And you mean Jordan as in Jordan Brady, right?" When Gabriella nodded, she squealed and continued on. "You're really pretty, by the way. Anyways, don't you ever get sick of the paparazzi following you around everywhere? Or have you gotten used to it over time?"

"Thanks. Well, people hiding in the bushes snapping pictures of you isn't something that I think anyone can get used to. And that's the point - it's exactly that. People hiding in the bushes and taking pictures of you while you're doing everything like going to the grocery store or taking out the garbage. Although those might not seem like huge tasks, it is an invasion of privacy. And yes, it does get on my nerves."

"And you lost them when you came to Albuquerque?"

Gabriella shot a worried look at Sharpay, before replying. "Well, that's the thing. At the moment, Jordan and I are supposed to be in Europe. So if it ever gets out that I came to visit here, there will be people here right away. And then I wouldn't be able to come back. So I would really, really appreciate it if you guys wouldn't tell anyone." Seeing them all nod, she smiled. "Great." She pointed to a girl with dark red curls.

"Samantha. First of all, I absolutely love you. Second, how did you and Mr. Bolton first meet?"

The brunette giggled, looking over at Troy to find him giving her a crooked smile. "Thanks, you guys are all so sweet. Tro- Mr. Bolton and I met in kindergarten. Basically, I told him that I thought this hair was pretty, he gave me his cupcake, and I gave him a makeover with markers that he loved. Which of course I got in loads of trouble for later, but it was the start of a great friendship."

A few laughs went around the classroom, and somebody yelled out a question. "So you're totally normal, then?"

"I guess so." She smiled. "I'm just like any of you, of course older, but still. I wake up every morning, walk around the house in my pajamas, eat a late breakfast, watch T.V. until 2 some days. And I have chores - taking out the garbage, washing the dishes after dinner... Cleaning my room, shopping for groceries. I'll hang out with my friends on Friday nights, go to movies...the usual."

Just as she was about to answer another question, Troy interrupted. "Okay, guys. Sorry that I have to say this, but class is over in two minutes, and then you all can go home. So-"

"Wait, can you sign this, Gabriella?"

"Yeah, this too."

"Please?"

"Just right here."

"To Michelle, please."

"You're like...my idol."

"I love you! Thanks so much!"

"You guys are the sweetest!" Gabriella smiled, signing everything the kids thrust into her hands. The bell rang, and she finished signing autographs before glancing up at the clock. "So you guys all have to go, but maybe I'll try and stop by some time in the next week?" When cheers greeted her words, she giggled, watching the kids file out of the classroom one by one. Sharpay hurried out after them, closing the door behind her to leave her cousin and her friend to talk.

Troy slowly gathered up his things, pulling his blazer over the button-up white t-shirt that he was wearing. He pulled his keys out of his pocket and looked up to find Gabriella with one hand on the doorknob, watching him curiously.

"What?" He asked, chuckling.

"Nothing." She smiled, shaking her head. "It's just- You were pretty good with those kids, Troy."

"Well," He began, running a hand through his hair and taking a couple of steps towards her. "You were pretty good yourself, Montez."

"So, what was that kid saying again?" Gabriella asked, walking away from the door and brushing past him, stopping in front of the desk. "Something along the lines of 'That would explain why he was so eager to be the teacher supervisor of her fan club'?"

"Damn." He cursed under his breath, before looking up at her. "I was hoping you wouldn't hear that."

"Oh, I heard it alright. Didn't you tell me that they needed a staff supervisor and so you offered?"

"They did need one!" He defended.

"Mmhm." Gabriella grinned, glancing sideways out the window. "I'm sure."

Troy rolled his eyes, opening the door. "Come on," He pointed towards the hallway. "Now's probably the safest time to go so that you won't be spotted. That's what you want, isn't it?"

"Yes, but ten minutes after class ends?" She asked, shaking her head. "Troy."

"Most kids go straight to clubs. Or at least the ones that have their lockers in this hallways do. Come on, trust me."

"Fine."

She followed after him, surprised to see that he was right. He led her down the hallway and through a set of doors, and they were in the staff parking lot.

"Get in." Troy gestured to a black Audi, opening the driver's door and getting in. She followed after him, looking behind her first.

"What about-"

"Sharpay? I think she'll realize that you're with me." He laughed, before putting the car in reverse and pulling out of the parking space.

"Relax, Brie. And since I got you out of the school safe, coffee can be on you." Troy grinned at her, laughing again as she frowned.

"I hate you." Gabriella muttered, just loud enough for him to hear.

**'And would call those friends you never see?  
Reminisce old memories?  
Would you forgive your enemies?'**

* * *

** A/N:** So they're friends now, and the easy friendship they used to have is sort of happening again. Next chapter, a bit more of the fight, and Troy and Jordan get some one on one time!


	7. Summer Fades to Fall

**A/N:** Sorry for the long wait, everybody. Things have been really hectic with school and my home life just isn't the best right now.

And then we were supposed to go to Mexico but my sister got really sick the morning of, so we couldn't go. We are, however, going to Niagra Falls tomorrow, which should be fun. Not exactly Mexico, but still. :) I wanted to post _something_ before I left, so I typed this up for you guys. It's currently 3:50 AM and I'm gonna try and post something else before I leave, but no promises.

One more thing. I know that this is totally insane with how rarely I update this story, but I was thinking of another story. I really didn't want to become the kind of author who never posts anything, and I'm really trying to improve that. Of course, I'll get a lot more into this story and I'll have a lot of the other story written out before I even post the first chapter, but I just wanted to let you guys know. Thanks for sticking with me, and enjoy!

* * *

**'I count the days  
Until we say goodbye  
I wish there was a way  
That I could stop time  
Forever, Remember  
Summer nights we spent together'**

_- Faber Drive, Summer Fades to Fall_

**Chapter Six - Summer Fades to Fall**

_"You want to do **what**?"_

_"Sharpay, quiet!" The brunette hissed, closing her bedroom door before turning back to her blond friend and shrugging her shoulders._

_"Gabriella, you cannot be serious." The other girl paused, shaking her head from where she sat on the edge of the bed. "This isn't just some job you want to give up - this is your dream. It's been your dream your entire life. And now that you get the chance to make it come true, you want to blow it and stay in Albuquerque?"_

_"You sound like my mom." She mumbled under her breath. "Can you please try and be my friend and not the parent for once?"_

_"Gabs, I'm telling you this as a friend. You've just been signed to one of the biggest agencies in Hollywood, and now you just want to turn them down and quit?"_

_"I just don't want to leave, Sharpay. For once I want to do something different - something no one would expect. Something that-"_

_"That would - Hmm, I don't know? Totally ruin your career?"_

_"You're making me sound like I'm a complete idiot, Shar." Gabriella shook her head, flipping through the pages of an old scrapbook._

_"No. No no no no no. See, I'm just letting you know the pros and cons of your decision."_

_"You're just telling me the cons."_

_"When I find a pro, I'll get back to you."_

_"Well here's one for you," The brunette sighed sarcastically. "What if I want to stay because I don't want to miss out on my high school years? I can go back to East High with you, and Chad, and Troy next year, and then-"_

_"Oh Gabs, I'm sorry."_

_Being pulled out of her thoughts by her friend's apologetic voice, fifteen year old Gabriella Montez looked at her curiously. "What do you mean?"_

_"Shit, I forget how close you and my cousin are sometimes."_

_Immediately, the brunette's cheeks turned pink, and she shook her head. "I don't know what you're talking ab-"_

_"Gabs, if you want to stay here because you're afraid of losing Troy, then you could have just said so."_

_Gabriella looked away, swallowing the lump that was beginning to form in her throat. "I'm just afraid. What if Hollywood changes me, and he doesn't want anything to do with me? What if when I'm not here he decides that he likes Lisa Adams better just because she has big boobs and a huge ass? What if we just lose contact altogether? That always happens, Sharpay, and you know that long distance relationships never work. There's always that lack of trust there."_

_"Is that what you're afraid of?"_

_Both Gabriella and Sharpay's heads turned to the door, to see a frowning Troy Bolton, looking adorable in black shorts and a red and white East High t-shirt. His hair was wet from the shower he must have just taken, and his eyes never left the brunette's._

_Sharpay opened her mouth to speak, but seemed to think it through and instead closed her mouth and left her best friend's bedroom._

_As soon as his cousin's footsteps signaled that she was going down the stairs, Troy sighed and shook his head._

_"Brie, is that why you've been acting so funny this week? You're afraid to leave, because of me?"_

_"It's not your fault, Troy." She said immediately, realizing what he thought. "It's my own insecurity, nothing more."_

_"But it is my fault." He murmured, stepping towards her and pulling her into his arms. He felt her relax against his chest, and sighed again. "If I didn't make you feel that security, than it is completely my fault."_

_"No, it's not." The brunette's voice was firm, and she pulled back so she could look him in the eye. "You've made me feel comfortable thousands of times over again, Troy."_

_"I don't want to make you want to give up your dream, Brie."_

_"It's not you that's the problem, I said."_

_"You can't stay behind because of me. It's not a good enough reason."_

_"So we aren't a good enough reason?"_

_"That's not what I said, babe." Troy groaned, noting the hurt expression on her face._

_"But you implied it, Troy. You're not even acting like you're going to miss me."_

_"That's because I'm the one that has to stay strong!" His sudden explosion cause her to jump, and his face immediately softened as he sat down on the edge of her bed, pulling her down beside him._

_"I don't understand."_

_"Gabriella, have you ever thought about how scared I am? What if you get to Hollywood and meet some gorgeous actor who you totally fall for? What if you realize that Albuquerque will never be the same as L.A., and decide never to come back and visit? What if you realize that the only thing I'll ever be able to do for you is to be cheering for you on the sidelines, and then realize that you want someone who can understand your life instead of imagining what it's like?" The blue-eyed boy's voice cracked. "What if you forget me?"_

_This time it was her who pulled him into her arms, letting him rest his face in her hair. He clung onto her, swallowing to hold back his own tears. When she pulled away from him, she lifted a hand to clear the hair from in front of his eyes, planting a gentle kiss on his cheek._

_"Troy, you're my rock. You've been with me throughout my entire life, through everything that's happened and you always know what to do or say to make me smile. You protect me, you listen to me. You're my best friend in the whole world, and you always will be. And I l-adore you for that."_

_That's when he realized what had been upsetting her, and why she was so worried. A single change of words in her sentence had made him recognize exactly what the problem was._

_He turned, looked her straight in the eye, and murmured to her. "I love you, Gabriella."_

_"What?" Clearly she had been caught off guard, but the tears in her eyes told him that it was the right thing to say._

_"I love you." He repeated, stroking her face gently. "I love you and I'm sorry for not telling you before. I know that I could have probably done this a more romantic way, to make it something that you'll remember. But I would never want you to doubt what we have. I know that we're only fifteen, but I love you - forever and always. I couldn't let you leave without you knowing that."_

_The brunette pulled him to her, kissing him once, twice, three times. She wiped the tears out of her eyes and kissed him once more._

_"I love you too, Troy. God, I love you."_

_

* * *

_

"Ella, the door!"

"Can't you get it?"

"I'm in the shower, Ella."

"I'm half naked, Superstar!"

"Babe, it's your house. Just check who it is, alright? If it's no one important, don't answer it."

"Fine. But if that person barges into the house and I get raped, have that on your conscience." The brunette yelled back, making her way down the stairs and to the front door, clutching a white towel to her chest. The entire time she mumbled under her breath, and when she paused at the door she mentally cursed her 'time of the month'.

"Who is it?" She called, and nearly dropped the towel when a deep voice answered her.

"It's Troy, Brie." After a short pause where Gabriella could her people shuffling around on the steps, he laughed. "And Sonya."

"Great." She muttered, running a hand through her still-tangled hair and adjusting the towel. She groaned when she realized that it reached just above mid-thigh, but unlocked and opened the door all the same.

"You okay, Brie?" Troy asked, watching as she hid behind the door. He could only see her neck and head, and couldn't help but chuckling.

"I'm perfect, Troy, thanks." She tried her best to give him a full smile, but it turned out as more of a wince. Noticing him lift an eyebrow, she instead turned to the dark-haired woman standing next to him. "Hi, Sonya. Sorry that took a while. To be honest, we weren't exactly expecting anyone."

"Hi, Gabriella." Sonya smiled at her, before turning to glance at Troy. "I thought Troy had called last night?"

"Jordan answered the phone." The blue-eyed man said quickly. "I told him that Sonya and I were taking the day off work today, to come see you guys and maybe take you around? Not that many people should be around, since it's a Wednesday, so there's not much to worry about."

"Right. Well, he probably forgot to tell me, but-"

"Ella, who's at the-" Jordan stood at the top of the stairs, dressed in jeans and drying his hair with a towel. His voice broke off when he saw who it was, and his eyes narrowed for half a second, before he smiled again and finished his sentence. "door. Hey guys." He greeted them with a wave.

Gabriella glared at him, speaking to Sonya. "Look, if I had known that you guys were coming I would've been ready. But both of us just got out of the shower, and-"

Watching Troy's eyes widen, she quickly corrected herself. "No, not together!"

Both she and Jordan blushed a deep red, and Gabriella closed the door, still holding the towel up. "I'm kind of not dressed. If you guys wanna make yourselves comfortable, we'll be down in a bit." She hurried up the stairs, calling over her shoulder. "Drinks are in the kitchen, so help yourselves."

The brunette entered her bedroom, pulling her towel off and throwing it on the bed, sitting down next to it.

"Ella, you've really got to stop looking so tempting, or you might just kill me." He had paired his light-washed jeans with a navy blue polo, his hair looking at though he had just run his hands through it a couple of times. She couldn't help but smile at the sight of him leaning on her doorframe, grinning at her.

"You know I answered the door in lingerie?" She asked, frowning and gesturing to what she was currently dressed in. "Black lingerie, Jordan! And when I said that we had both finished showering - you should have seen the way they looked at me!"

Her boyfriend laughed, walking over to her bed and bending down so that he was eye level with her, gently kissing her forehead. "I think you look gorgeous no matter what - even if you were in just a towel. Mind you, I could have done without you answering the door looking so incredibly sexy. Somebody might have jumped you."

"You're the one who told me to answer the door!" She cried incredulously.

"And since when have you listened to anything that I've said, Ella?"

Gabriella didn't answer, instead asking him another question. "Why didn't you tell me that Troy had called?"

Jordan's face hardened into an unreadable expression that she had only seen when he was talking to paparazzi. "Didn't I?"

"No, you didn't." She said quietly, noticing that he couldn't meet her eyes. "Is something wrong, Superstar?"

"I just found some stuff." He mumbled, just loud enough for her to hear.

"What st-"

"Hurry up and get ready, okay Ella?" He cut her off, rising to his full height. "I'll meet you downstairs."

And he was gone, leaving the brunette to wonder what exactly he had found and why it had caused such a drastic change in his behavior towards her.

* * *

"So where exactly are you planning on taking us?"

Gabriella asked as she entered the kitchen, running a hand through her now-dry hair. She had been upstairs for a good half an hour, blow drying her hair and changing altogether. She had decided on a gray sweater dress with a plunging neckline that cut off about mid-thigh (with a white tank underneath), along with dark-washed skinny jeans and a couple of long necklaces.

"It took you that long to get dressed?" Troy asked, shaking his head slightly in disbelief. "Brie, all you did was put on a shirt and pants."

"And jewelry, and I dried my hair, and I put makeup on." She pointed to her necklaces and ring, hair, and face one after the other.

"What makeup?"

"Mascara, blush, and eyeliner." Sonya answered him instead, shrugging as though it were the most obvious thing in the world, and he turned to face her, frowning.

"Spot on." Gabriella giggled, sticking her tongue out at Jordan. "I'm starting to pick up some of your sayings, Superstar."

"And you sound adorable when you're saying them." Her boyfriend grinned, pecking her on the side of the head. "Want a drink, Ella?"

"Depends on where we're going." She turned to look at Troy, who gave her a small smile, before wrapping his arm around his girlfriend's waist.

"Actually, Sonya and I were thinking we could head back to our place first, if that's alright with you guys? I kind of wanted to show you the place, and-"

"Kind of?" Sonya turned to Gabriella. "He hasn't shut up about how excited you would be the entire morning."

"That's not true!" Troy defended himself. "I just said that she would like it."

"Mmhm," The bronze-skinned girl laughed. "About twenty times."

"What kind of place is it?" Jordan asked.

"You'll see." The blue-eyed man grinned, giving Gabriella a quick wink before pointing towards the exit to the kitchen. He held out his hand for Sonya to go in front of him. "Shall we?"

* * *

"I don't think I'm going to get over how amazing this place is."

The four adults sat out on Troy and Sonya's balcony, and Gabriella couldn't stop complimenting the apartment. Four bedrooms, three bathrooms, a large, modern kitchen, a living room, dining room, and family room. Each room was decorated differently but with the open concept to the apartment, the designs seemed to ease into each other. Her favourite room, however, was the family room. The walls were a deep red, with a dark beige couch and dark hardwood floors. There was a glass coffee table and the mantel of the fireplace was decorated with about six pictures - a large painting hanging over it. There was a 52" plasma screen TV, and speakers on either sides of the TV itself, and also right behind the couch to get the full experience of whatever you were watching. The TV was also hooked up to a music system were you could plug in any MP3 player and have it play both in the room and outside on the balcony.

"I told you she would like it." Troy grinned down at his girlfriend, laughing as she rolled her eyes and nodded.

"And actually," He continued, rising out of his seat and gesturing back inside. "Jordan, check out what I did to one of the bedrooms."

Waiting until the other man stood up and followed him inside, Troy led the way to the fourth bedroom, and opened up the door.

Inside was a mess, to say the least. There was a large, black leather couch, the floor was carpeted, and there was another 52" plasma screen TV on the wall. However, the room was also complete with a couple of gaming systems (both and Xbox 360 and a Wii), a fridge and cabinets with food, a small workout area in the corner, and a pool table. There were a couple of beanbags off to the side, and the room was painted navy blue. Of course, the pillows for the couch were all around the room, and various bags of chips and empty beer bottles littered the floor.

"Isn't it awesome?" Troy asked, falling back onto the couch. "This is the one place in the apartment where Sonya let me do whatever I wanted."

"It's pretty cool." Jordan agreed, trying to give the blue-eyed man in front of him a genuine smile. Yes, of course he thought that this room was awesome - it was just about any guy's ultimate hangout - but something had been bugging him since yesterday evening.

"You okay, man?"

"Yeah, yeah. Just - Troy, I don't mean to pry, you have to understand that. Just some stuff's been bugging me since yesterday and I don't know how to confront Ella about it."

"So you're asking me?" Troy asked indifferently, digging through the couch cushions to pretend he was searching for the remote.

"You two are pretty close, it seems."

"I wouldn't say we're that close."

"Oh, but you are. We came here what? A week ago now? I've never heard Ella speak about you once, and suddenly we come here and you two seem like you're best friends - with the exception of our first night, of course. I couldn't help but think that there was more to it."

"And why would you think that?" His voice was hard.

"It's not like I think that there's anything going on, but if you saw the way you look at her. It's like...God, every time you look at her it's like it's the first time you've seen her in five years."

Troy rose to his feet, his hands clenched into fists. "What, you think you got me all figured out? I hate to break it to you, Brady, but I _haven't_ seen Gabriella in a while. So I missed her. Chad did too - he's no different than I am."

"Except _Chad_ isn't coming around to our house every single day. You look at Ella the same way you look at Sonya, did you know?"

"_Her_ house." Troy corrected instantly. "Not both of yours. Hers. Her and her mom and that's it. And what have you been doing, watching me? Brie's my friend, Jordan." He spat the name out.

"And Sonya's your girlfriend. If you're looking at them both the same way then I think something's wrong, don't you?"

"You don't know what the hell you're talking about." He snarled, shoving the man in front of him.

"I found her pictures!" Jordan yelled at last, eyes wide. There was a stunned silence, and he ran his hand through his hair before repeating himself. "I found her pictures. The box of them. Of Chad, Sharpay, a couple of other people. But mostly of you. A box of pictures and the majority of it was of you and of you and her."

"You were snooping through her stuff?"

"Hardly. I dropped my watch under the bed and was looking for it. I look under there and I found the box of pictures, and her old yearbook."

"I don't know what you want me to say."

"Were you and Ella ever together?" His voice was slightly hoarse, but confident at the same time.

"Yes."

"You know exactly what's coming next, don't you?"

"I have a pretty good idea."

"When?"

"It started in middle school."

"How long?"

"A couple of years."

"How did it end?"

At this, Troy's face hardened into stone, remembering the night some five years ago.

_"Fuck you, Troy."_

_It had taken all of his strength to not let his head turn to the side when she had slapped him. His cheek burned, and yet he didn't lift a hand to stifle the sting. His gaze never moved from hers, and he watched as tears spilled down her cheeks._

_"Don't ever call me a whore again." Despite her tears, her voice was icily calm._

_He smirked. "Whore."_

_Instead of slapping him again, she recoiled - as though she had been stung by his words._

_"You're a fucking whore, Gabriella. The one thing you can't stand, and now you're it." The way the hurt was reflected in her eyes - the way she let out a little choked sob - he wanted her to feel the pain. He wanted her to experience loss of something. For once, he wanted her to break out of her perfect little world and feel what normal people felt every day._

_"Who the hell are you?"_

_"Well I guess I'm the fucker who believed you were something else."_

_"Stop it, Troy."_

_"Stop it? Is that all you've got left?" He taunted._

_"I don't want to fight with you."_

_"Of course. You just want the release of a good fuck. You're just like typical Hollywood."_

_"Typical Hollywood? Troy, I-"_

_"Just stay the hell away from me, Gabriella."_

"Troy?"

"It was a mutual decision. We just both decided that it would work out better as friends."

"And that's it."

"That's it." Troy repeated, looking past Jordan at the wall behind him. "It was a mutual decision."

He reminded himself every day that they were just friends, and that he would never do anything to jeopardize that. But somehow, Jordan's previous comments echoed in the back of his mind. _'Every time you look at her...it's like the first time you've seen her in five years. You look at Ella the same way you look at Sonya. Sonya's your girlfriend. If you're looking at them both the same way then I think something's wrong, don't you?'_

"That's it." He whispered. "Nothing else."

**'Every time I think of you  
I don't wanna face the truth  
Why wait forever knowing we may never follow through?  
Guess I should get over you  
But I can't let go so soon  
I'll wait forever knowing we may never follow through?  
Why wait forever just for you' **


	8. Lover Dearest

**A/N: **So here's Chapter Seven! Sorry for the longer wait, guys.

Ha, I went to see '17 Again' this past Friday (premiere day) and we had to buy our tickets three hours in advance and then wait in line for an hour outside the theatre before we were let it. It was so funny, 'cause they would only let a few people in at a time. Me and my friends were in the first group, and as soon as we were allowed to go in, everyone charged into the theatre. But anyways, the movie was AMAZING. Despite the fact that Zac was SO FREAKING HOT (especially with the aviators) it was a genuinely good movie. And it was hilarious. I'm definitely going to go see it again, and I highly recommend it. For those of you who've seen it, let me know what you think in your reviews. (:

* * *

'**This place is a hole, but I don't wanna go  
I wish we could stay here forever alone  
This time that we waste, but I still love your taste  
Don't let him take my place, don't just sit there**'

_- Marianas Trench, Lover Dearest_

**Chapter Seven - Lover Dearest**

"I have to say that wherever you two are now, completely out of sight of the paparazzi, is genius. Makes my job a hell of a lot easier."

"Anything for you, Matt." Gabriella giggled in response to her publicist on the other line. She had her Blackberry held in between her shoulder and her ear, and was painting her toenails as she occasionally glanced sideways at the Chinese takeout menu on the couch.

"But you two have been gone for what? Almost a couple of weeks or so now? Well, with that I can't exactly say that my job has been easy. I've been on damage control."

"Damage control?" She questioned, twisting the lid back on to the nail polish and sticking her feet out to rest on the coffee table before leaning back into the couch.

"Well you both not being here has left room for new rumors. And with Emily Marsh supposedly interfering in your relationship already, it hasn't been particularly difficult to weave a false story. Of course, with you or Jordan not being here to deny anything personally, they just haven't stopped coming. Did you know that you were supposedly married with a private ceremony in Venice? Or that you're pregnant - with triplets? Oh, and apparently you two aren't together - Jordan's with his parents and you're taking refuge somewhere in New Mexico. He broke up with you because he discovered you were having an affair with your ex."

A minute or so passed as the brunette absorbed what was being said, before at last she let out a small giggle. The last rumor made her do a double-take, but apart from that everything seemed pretty cliche. "And you...?"

"Don't worry, Gabriella. Your old buddy Matthew's got it all taken care of. The majority of it all was pretty easy to clean up. I've released a few statements saying that you are neither pregnant, nor anywhere along the lines of getting married. It's also stated that however, no more detail will be given on either of your personal lives."

"Great, Matt. I'll let Jordan know as soon as he - Wait. You said 'majority'. Was there a problem?"

"Actually-"

"I've come bearing junkfood and movies." The loud voice echoed around the house, and a moment later a certain sandy-haired, blue-eyed man poked his head into the entrance to the family room. "Let me stay, please?"

"Troy!" Gabriella laughed, shaking her head and gesturing to the fact that she was on the phone.

"Who's Troy?" Matt's voice immediately asked.

The brunette's eyes widened and she bit her lip, frantically searching for an excuse. Of course she trusted her publicist not to leak information about their whereabouts. She just didn't particularly want to sit through a lecture about how Matt hoped the last rumor wasn't true and that she wasn't a cheater, or anything of that sort. So maybe having your publicist be your boyfriend's best friend isn't the best thing, after all.

"No one. I was just...talking about the movie. Jordan and I were going to have a movie night in and he wanted to know what movie I wanted on Pay-Per-View."

The lie came swiftly from her mouth and she held her breath, praying that he would believe her. After a short pause, a low chuckle from the other end of the line signaled that he had, and Gabriella let out a silent sigh of relief.

"Isn't that the one that he's been trying to convince you to watch for weeks?"

"...Yeah." She replied slowly, watching as Troy dropped a plastic bag onto the couch next to her. A few seconds later, she heard him moving around in the kitchen. "But I decided that with both Brad Pitt _and_ Orlando Bloom, it can't be all that bad, right?"

"Sure, for you. And-"

"But back to what you were saying before." She quickly cut in before he could start rambling on about the movie. "Was there a problem?"

"Oh, right. Right. Well, the whole you and Jordan breaking up is something that hasn't been quite so easy to 'get rid of'. You know when you two first signed the contract, it was agreed that I was never to confirm any rumors involving your relationship - whether or not it was you breaking up or any other thing of that sort. Because of this, I can't exactly say that yes, you two are still together."

Gabriella frowned, lifter her hand a twirling a strand of dark hair between her fingers. "So what are we supposed to do, then?"

"Didn't I tell you not to worry, Gabriella?" She could hear the smile in his voice. "I pulled a few strings, and it turns out that Dakota Fanning's new movie is premiering this weekend. It was produced by Angelina Jolie, and the suspense has been building up for a while. Originally it was a very private guest list, but I got you two on there. If you two appear at the event together that'll clear up the rumors and then you can go back to whatever the hell you're doing wherever you are."

She bit her lip, nodding as she responded. "Thanks, Matt. I'll talk to Jordan about it and get back to you by sometime tomorrow, okay?"

"Sure, doll. Ring me when you can."

The brunette chuckled at the goodbye, and ended the call smiling. A moment later Troy entered the room, balancing a good four bowls and two cans of pop.

"How much do you think I'm going to be eating?" Gabriella asked, standing up to help him place the bowls on the coffee table.

"You?" Troy asked, adjusting the bowls so that they were closer to him. "I thought this was all for me."

"You're an idiot." Was her reply, as she grabbed one of the pop cans out of his hand.

"Something's wrong." The blue-eyed man stated, watching as her face relaxed.

"Why would you think that?"

"Brie. I've known you for how long now?" When she didn't reply, he sighed. "Come on, what is it?"

"Nothing out of the ordinary," She started, glancing back down at the takeout menu that was now on the floor. "Just paparazzi rumors, is all. To clear them up Jordan and I have to make a public appearance, meaning we go back to California for the weekend. I have to talk to him about it when he gets back."

"Where is pretty boy Jordan, anyways?" Troy asked, managing to keep his voice even as he said the words referring to Gabriella's boyfriend.

Frowning, Gabriella answered quickly. "Oh, he went to the grocery store with my mom. They left about fifteen minutes ago. But knowing my mother, she'll probably drag him off to three other places before they come home."

"What's with the anger, Brie?" The question was innocent, and he stood up to push a movie into the DVD player.

"My parents are divorced. Did you know that?"

"Yeah. That's why you're mad at your mom?"

"You knew? Troy, I can't believe you didn't tell me."

"I thought you would know."

"I thought so too." Her voice was quiet, before she shook her head and attempted to change the topic. "So, how's Sonya?"

At this, Troy smiled. "She's great. She actually just drove up to New York to pick up her parents."

"They didn't fly?"

He couldn't help but laugh. "No, they prefer the road. Apparently it's safer. Which I really don't understand, but..."

"I want to meet her parents. I really like her, Troy."

"Wish I could say the same about Jordan." This time he made no attempt to hide the hardness in his voice.

"I don't understand the two of you. The first few days you're fine, I guess. And all of this sudden there's this hate out of nowhere."

"Oh, he hates me too?"

"Troy."

"Gabriella."

"You just don't know him, that's all. Once you two spend some more time together-"

"I don't like him. I don't need to know him really well. I know enough already."

"What's so bad about him?"

"You know he has no intention of properly committing to you anytime soon?"

"Like you would know." Her voice had its own edge to it now, and she scooted further away from him on the couch.

"Gabriella, I know how the male mind works! I can tell by his actions!"

"How does that have anything to do with why he's such a bad person?"

"It just does."

"Not every person with a y chromosome thinks the same way you do, Troy."

He was silent for a moment, his mouth in a taught line. "I'm not going to fight with you."

"Right. Because that promise worked _so_ well before."

* * *

_"Troy?" She knocked twice on the white bedroom door before slowly pushing it open._

_She watched as he pressed a couple of buttons on the controller he was holding, pausing the game on the TV in front of him. "Brie?" Shock crossed his face, and he put the controller on his bedside table and hit the power switch on the TV. "What're you doing here?"_

_"Uh, your mom let me in." She shuffled her feet nervously, looking down at her flip flops._

_A silence filled the room as he took in her appearance. Faded black sweatpants, with one of the legs rolled up past her knee. Her hair was tied up in a messy bun and she had a red 'Wildcats' hoodie zipped halfway with a white tank top underneath. She had large eye-bags, and she carried her phone and iPod in one hand. "Are you okay?"_

_"I was going to go to the park." She said quietly, ignoring his question. "I was going to, but I came here instead."_

_"You shouldn't have gone out this late." He sighed. "With all this new fame, who knows who could be following you."_

_He watched as her eyes widened in fear, and he mentally cursed himself. "Sorry. It's just - You're a sixteen year old girl. It's not safe."_

_"You're sixteen, too, you know."_

_"Well, yeah, but-"_

_"But you're Troy Bolton and you can protect yourself from anything." She attempted to imitate him, resting her hands on her hips and deepening her voice before grinning._

_"Something like that." He chuckled, gesturing for her to come and join him on the bed._

_As she seated herself next to him, he grabbed her hand and pressed his lips to the back of it. "Are you okay?" He repeated._

_"I just needed you." She admitted, pushing a strand of dark brown hair behind her ear._

_"Something you wanna talk about?"_

_"Not really." She mumbled, before closing her eyes and resting her head against his shoulder._

_"Oh. Okay, then."_

_A small smile graced her lips as she realized he was trying to hide his surprise. "It's just my parents fighting again. It's happening more and more, Wildcat. I can't take it."_

_"It's nothing, Brie." He assured her, leaning his cheek against the top of her head. "I've heard my parents talking about how stressed your dad is from work. It'll pass, just give it a bit of time."_

_"I hate the yelling, Troy." She admitted. "I hate the yelling and I hate how the next day they're completely normal around me - as though I can't hear what's going on every time."_

_Again, there was a short silence. "You wanna stay the night?" He offered. "I mean, I'm not sure my mom would let you sleep here, but you know that the guest bedroom is always available if-"_

_"Yeah." She interrupted him, nodding her head and smiling. "That would mean the world to me."_

_He kissed the top of her head gently. "You know I'll always be here for you."_

_As they stood up at made their way to his room door, she swallowed before speaking so quiet that he wasn't sure if he heard her. "Promise me something, Wildcat?"_

_"I've promised thousands of things to you, Brie. Of course I'll promise you one more."_

_"We'll never fight, right? I mean, I know that we argue every now and then, but no screaming?"_

_"Of course. I'd never be able to live with myself if I saw you hurting because of me."_

_

* * *

_

"I thought we were moving past broken promises?" He snapped.

"And I thought we weren't going to fight?" The brunette asked, a mocking tone in her voice. "I still don't understand how any of this has to do with commitment."

"You mean the lack of it?"

"You're impossible!"

"_I'm_ the one who's looking out for you!"

"Looking out for me? Why the hell would you be looking out for me?"

"For fuck's sake, Gabriella. I care about you! How can you not see that? I've been trying to act perfect for the past week and a half so _you_ won't hate my guts!"

"A week and a half can't make up for five years." She hissed.

"_You_ left _me_!" He yelled, hands clenching into fists.

"I thought we had already been through this?" She responded coolly. "Don't try and make this seem like it's my fault, because we both know that it isn't."

"God, nothing gets through your thick skull, does it? I had everything planned out. I was ready - I was committed. And then-"

"You don't know a thing about commitment! If fourteen years isn't what you call commitment, than I don't know what is."

"You want to know what commitment is?!" He roared, standing up and digging through his pocket. He pulled out a black velvet box, slamming it down on the coffee table. "That's fucking commitment, Gabriella! Right there!"

Silence. A good ten minutes passed, with their two heated gazes locked. At last, her body trembling, the brunette reached forward and picked up the small box. She opened it, a small gasp escaping her lips at the look of the ring. It was a simple ring - a princess cut diamond, with a white gold band. But it was beautiful.

"Tr-" She began, but was quickly cut off by his monotone voice.

"My girl wouldn't walk around without the whole world knowing that she's mine. I wouldn't care what other people would think - who would photograph it. I wouldn't give a damn if it affected my celebrity status. I wouldn't worry about waiting for the right time so it keeps me in all the tabloids and brings the cash in. Everyone would see - because real love isn't something that can be hidden." He blinked once, eyes still focused on her. "That's the second time I've yelled at you in nearly seven years."

"That doesn't matter, Troy. Who did you buy this ring for?" Her voice was an octave higher than usual, and she was surprised she was able to move to hold the diamond up to his face.

"That's the third time that I've broken a promise to you. Twice that I would never shout at you. Once that I would never leave."

"Troy, it's okay." She tried to reassure him. "The ring, Troy. Please, I need to know."

"This is the fourth time I'm denying you something that you want to know."

"Wildcat-"

He briefly squeezed his eyes shut before speaking. "This is the fifth time since you've been here that I've wished you weren't with him."

"I-"

"But in five years, not a day has gone by where I haven't wished that things had turned out differently that day."

The moment he spoke those words, Gabriella squeezed her eyes shut. Her arms crossed protectively over her chest and she clutched onto the ring tighter than before - even with trembling hands. She couldn't deal with this right now. With the past, or with him, or with engagements that never happened. She didn't want to dwell on what could have been. They were older now, and each of them had someone else they could turn to for the feelings they had once shared with each other. The two of them just didn't fit anymore - a puzzle that could never work in her eyes. Willing two things to come together wouldn't make it happen.

"I'm sorry." They both said at the same time.

Gabriella's eyes snapped open, locking with Troy's. They both attempted to continue on at the same time.

"I didn't mean to tell you all that-"

"We're at a different time in our lives-"

Again, they both broke off. An uncomfortable silence followed, and yet she couldn't tear her eyes away from him. At last, she snapped the little black box shut and held it out in front of her.

"This is yours, really."

"I should go." As he spoke, he held his own hand out, palm open, and watched as she dropped the box. He caught it and carefully placed it back into his pocket.

Their gazes held for a moment longer, before he nodded once and turned around. Moments later she heard the front door open and then close, and she collapsed onto the couch.

"Bye, Wildcat." She whispered, letting the words echo throughout the empty room.

'**I'm not sick of you yet  
Is that as good as it gets  
I'll just hide it  
Or I could slip into you  
It's so easy to come back into you'**

* * *

**A/N:** Thoughts? Love to read the reviews, guys. Make me happy. (:


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